The National Liberal Party (NLP) has called for the escalating insecurity in Mwingi and along the Mwingi-Garissa highway to be declared a national emergency, warning that failure to act could trigger wider inter-community conflict.Party leader Augustus Kyalo Muli raised the alarm following fresh violence at Ukasi, where an attack reportedly left a child dead and passenger buses damaged as chaos erupted along the highway.
Videos circulating online showed buses with shattered windscreens, frightened drivers fleeing the scene and residents barricading the road with burning tyres, leaving hundreds of travellers stranded.
The latest incident comes days after deadly attacks in Kwa Kamari village in Tseikuru, where seven people were killed in an assault blamed on armed bandits reportedly using Probox vehicles.
During the attack, shops and a petrol station were set ablaze, forcing residents to flee into nearby bushland.Police reports indicate a growing cycle of retaliatory violence in the region.
On March 29, a Kamba herder was killed. A day later, four Somalis were reportedly killed in revenge attacks. On April 25, seven people were massacred in Kwa Kamari, while the April 28 Ukasi attack added to the death toll.According to the party, at least 14 people have died in the last 30 days.
Dr Muli described the violence as a dangerous pattern of ethnic retaliation that risks spiralling beyond control unless urgent intervention is taken.He called on Inspector General Douglas Kanja and Deputy Inspector General Eliud Lagat to take personal charge of security operations in Mwingi until those behind the attacks are arrested and brought to justice.
The NLP wants the immediate deployment of National Police Reservists, General Service Unit officers and, if necessary, military support to secure the Mwingi-Garissa corridor and provide armed escorts for passenger buses.
The party said the highway is a critical economic route linking Ukambani to northern Kenya and warned continued disruption was hurting trade and livelihoods.It also called for the arrest of individuals accused of incitement, noting that the Directorate of Criminal Investigations has already detained a Garissa political aspirant over a video said to have fuelled retaliatory attacks.“Ethnic mobilisation is terrorism,” the party said in its statement.
As part of efforts to calm tensions, the NLP proposed a ceasefire summit within 48 hours bringing together elders, religious leaders and the National Cohesion and Integration Commission under heavy security in Mwingi.
The party urged residents to reject revenge attacks, saying violence targeting innocent travellers and businesses would only deepen divisions.Dr Muli also linked the insecurity to decades of marginalisation, arguing that underdevelopment had created conditions for conflict to thrive.
He cited lack of roads, water and schools as some of the historical grievances fueling instability, and pointed to development projects such as Thwake Dam, Kitui Textiles and TVET-linked industrial programmes as long-term solutions.
In an appeal to President William Ruto, the opposition leader called for the same urgency and resources deployed in other parts of the country to be extended to Mwingi.“Seven dead in one village, a child killed on a bus and a major highway disrupted is not an isolated security incident. It is a national emergency,” he said.
