The situation escalated further when police attempted to remove the carcasses from the road on Friday morning, triggering violent resistance from residents who returned the dead animals to the highway, leading to the clashes.
Residents were said to have chased down the police officer who was running for his life. They, however, caught up with him and beat him with rungus and machetes, and eventually chopped off his hand. They also run off with his gun.
“We were very angry when we found out about this incident last night. We found out that the police were paid Ksh2 million to take away the carcass and cover the incident,” Sankok Ole Lamwesi, a resident, narrated.
Remaining adamant, the residents refused to reopen the road, demanding that their governor show up and witness the losses they incurred. This led to motorists along the Narok-Kisii road having their time wasted as transport was stalled for hours.
“We have been here for three hours, I am carrying passengers who are supposed to board planes, but now they are late. Why is it that when they lose livestock they protest, but when there are accidents here where people die they don’t do anything?,” David Okong’o, a driver, said.
Another passenger who was stranded condemned the attack and challenged leaders to listen to its residents and resolve their issues.
The police officer whose hand was chopped off was rushed to Nairobi for treatment. Meanwhile, a high-level security operation has been launched to track down those responsible for the attack and recover the stolen firearm.