Radio stations in North Eastern accused of fueling hate. What Matiang’i intends to do

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 19 – Following weeks of death and destruction along the common borders of Isiolo-Garissa-Wajir, the inspector General of police Hillary Mutyambai has deployed an additional security team in a disarmament and pacification exercise.

This is amidst potential chaos involving warring communities.

For weeks, the dominantly pastoralists communities have engaged in conflict over resources, mostly pasture and water.

So far, some 7 people have been confirmed dead.

The violence according to security agencies and residents have spilled over to other counties despite attempts to address the perennial issues.

On Tuesday however, political leaders from the Northern Kenya held consultative meetings with Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr. Fred Matiang’i in a bid to find a lasting solution.

Matiang’i, who termed the issues plaguing the counties as “complex and historic in nature”, said the government has resulted in taking a corrective action.

“When moving to an electoral cycle you see an escalation of inter-communal tensions some relating to pasture, but some to be sincere have a relationship to political activities and political expressions. We have had a candid discussion and this negotiations are a journey and we have agreed on how we are going to work,” CS Matiang’I said.

A review of administrative boundaries across the three counties is expected to kick off.

“It will take time. We must be at the table talking to one another. This is not something you work on overnight,” he said.

The leaders, who have also been accused of inflaming the violence whether knowingly or unknowingly have pledged to work together despite their past differences.

They have also been urged to be cautious of the words they use despite anger over the ongoing conflict.

“We have agreed in principle to end this conflict. The killing needs to stop. We are neighbors and will be neighbors forever,” Garissa Governor Ali Korane said.

Korane revealed that despite a proper demarcated boundary, communities have continued to clash over pasture and water which have in turned encouraged banditry attacks.

“It is advisable that if communities along the common border need pasture from the other side we will consult so that they get consent before proceeding to do so,” the Governor said.

Meanwhile , an audit of the Kenya police reservists in the area is already underway.

Once done, the government aims to redeploy them in areas that have proved troublesome.

“We are looking at how we have used those resource in the past and how we can use them better. We will soon also begin an aggressive exercise of disarmament. It is possible that in some parts of the country like that one, we have more arms that are in wrong hands and we will conduct that exercise very aggressively, soon,” the Interior CS added.

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Isiolo Governor Mohammed Kuti also decried the continued escalation of violence, saying his county has borne the brunt of the chaos.

He called for the strengthening of peace among communities.

“There are certain historical things that needed to be corrected. The issue were fully addressed, and directives given to ensure borders that are already known are respected. We must now leave as neighbors,” Mohammed Kuti, the Isiolo Governor said.

Vernacular radio stations in the region have also been blamed for spewing seeds of conflict, as a result reversing gains made by the government and locals.

“I’ve raised issues, in this part of the country we have FM stations we are looking at. I will request my colleague ICT CS and the communications authority to look at the matter. We will share the information we have with them. We are a democracy, we chose to be democratic nation by choice, freedom of expression is our way of life now, but responsibility is also necessary. FM stations however spewing hate and some advancing anti-peace propaganda we will not allow them,” Matiangi asserted.

The government has now threatened to invoke the public order act if the issue is not resolved in the coming weeks.