SAMBURU, Kenya, Jun,6 – Pastoralism reigns supreme across the Samburu rangelands. It is a way of life that has dominated the culture of the Samburu people, part of the larger Maa community.
Often seen by some as a form of an ‘isolated’ way of life, to the people that live and breathe this lifestyle, as one pastoralist tells this writer, ‘solitude is a chosen separation to refine one’s soul.’
Naisunyai center near Wamba town, Samburu county is what you would consider the equivalent of a transit town for this pastoralist community. Now, however, it has morphed into a thriving township where the old world intersects with the new roaring for change.
At one point, young men in this community referred to as Morans dominated the landscape and it was not uncommon for them to engage in cultural practices often considered ‘a coming of age’ rite of passage. This would at times be in form of cattle rustling. Those that successfully stole livestock from neighbouring communities would be considered ‘heroes’ gaining a form of social power and prestige.
Over time, however, the practice has been considered archaic and even retrogressive with communities now hoping to chart a better future for themselves, abandoning the so-called ‘old ways’ that characterized and dominated their way of life.
“Before I joined Ujuzi Manyattani I was a Moran. I was herding livestock…life in the past was different, it was difficult because we really struggled to look for food for our families,” said Simon Leparmare, a reformed bandit.
Leparmare,28, like many youth in his age set was forced to surmount numerous challenges as a result of the cards he was dealt in life, for some time this came to define who he was as he embraced life in crime. As he says, he alongside others would fully embrace banditry, in his mind at the time, it was the only way he would fend for his family amidst the harsh economic and even environmental situation he found himself in.
“When you have friends they tell you, don’t stay at home yet we are going to steal and we get something. Sometimes you just decide to go and engage in those activities. At times you find your life is even in danger and it is only God that protects you,” he said.
In just a few years of engaging in the illegal practice, Leparmare has seen it all. How a cultural practice defined by crude weapons morphed into sophisticated warfare with young men wielding weaponry such as AK-47 assault rifles while wreaking havoc across their community borderlines.
Samburu is no stranger to inter-community clashes, with various recourse actions taken to combat the menace that has threatened lives and forced communities to flee their homes.
Currently, amidst the worst prolonged drought season experienced in the country with scores searching for food and water for their families as well as pasture for their livestock, a multi-agency government team is undertaking a security operation in parts of the county following increased banditry.
Leparmare is all too familiar with this having encountered law enforcement officers in the wild Samburu rangelands.
At some point in time, he was forced to go into hiding after learning that security officers were hot on his trail for allegedly possessing a firearm. So dire was the situation that he was notified by friends that his life could be in danger since he was being perceived as a criminal.
A close encounter with death is said to have given him a different perspective of life.
“We went for a raid to steal and on our way there we were shot at by security officers, people started running and I found myself alone in the forest. Let’s just say it was God that rescued me,”
For days he roamed the forest with no food, no water, and was on the brink of despair before he found himself amongst ‘civilization’. The experience he says was an epiphany to either change for the better or face what some of his peers did, death by their own doing or time in jail for bandit-related activities.
“I regret my previous life because when you steal, you end up being arrested or injured and since you can not go to the hospital, you just stay in the forest or bush and pray to get better…some of the people even die,” said Leparmare.
In 2019, after abandoning life in crime, Leparmare joined 16 other young men from his community to receive basic vocational training from the Northern Rangelands Trust Training which is a community economic empowerment programme targeting community-run conservancies.
The training dubbed, ‘Ujuzi Manyattani’ aims to provide mobile, village-based vocational training to people in community conservancies by partnering with polytechnic institutions.
It is a response to a wider drive by community conservancies to diversify indigenous livelihoods and encourage entrepreneurship amongst women and young morans.
Within Nasunyai and Westgate Area, Leparmare has become a master of his own craft as a mechanic servicing and repairing hundreds of motorcycles alongside his team.
“The importance of this training is huge, no single day will you sleep hungry and you will make money to sustain yourself and your life improves for the better. A lot of youth are already receiving training as mechanics, masons among others,” he said.
Since 2019, 546 people have also graduated from the programme.
“Ujuzi Manyattani basically helps youth who have never been to school or have had one to two years of schooling to acquire skills that they can use to make a living. Having a motorcycle mechanic within a homestead really helps because that person can make an income and the owner of the motorcycle doesn’t have to drive all the way to the town center to have it fixed. It has really helped this community, ”said Sammy Lesaita,NRT, Director of Livelihoods.
The programme is tailored to the demands and lifestyles of the pastoralists it aims to serve.
Courses in mechanics, masonry, mobile phone repairs, welding and carpentry, hairdressing and beauty, catering, tailoring, and dressmaking among others are being offered in partnership with polytechnics.
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