LAIKIPIA, Kenya, Aug 6- It is now nine days since Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr Fred Matiangi asked herders who have invaded private ranches in Laikipia County to vacate or face forceful evictions.
The herders, some armed, are said to have come from the neighbouring counties of Baringo, Samburu and Isiolo.
The invasion has led to ethnic clashes that has seen several schools closed and hundreds of people displaced.
But in all these efforts to restore peace in the vast and cosmopolitan county, located on the Equator in the Rift Valley region, the government has turned a blind eye on the root cause of the security challenges in the area- the politicians.
Shahidi News can authoritatively report that a section of politicians have positively been linked with the ethnic clashes in the area, through intelligence reports in the custody of government.
Why is the government not taking action against them?
“We are preparing a serious crackdown. It’ll be ruthless and merciless, and I plead will all illegal herders to move out within the period,” the CS said, adding the Government would not hesitate to use force, if necessary, with a view to protecting the lives and private property bearing the brunt of invasions.
He was speaking at the Anti-Stock Theft Unit (ASTU) camp in Naibor in Laikipia County on July 28, 2021.
Present during the meeting was Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai, local farmers and owners of the private ranches and conservancies.
For the politicians, it is threats and more of threats; that they will be arrested and prosecuted.
“Politicians are above the law in this country,” an administrator who sought anonymity for fear of being victimized told Shahidi News.
“The government is aware of who is behind the ethnic clashes in our County but nothing has been done. Forceful eviction of herders is only a temporary solution to a dire problem and more so now when we are heading to the elections.”
In a recent opinion piece published by local dailies, Matiangi said political interests and greed by leaders are the main cause of unrest in the area and other parts of Northern Kenya.
“Let us be honest about the problem we are facing. Half of it is because we are approaching elections. Some people want to flex their political muscle by attacking and displacing others,” he said.
“The clashes, historically and as is manifesting now, tend to flare-up in the build-up to general elections, around key electoral processes such as voter registration or during high stake political discourses that invite residents’ decision-making. If you peer beneath the facade of drought-induced crises, there emerges a picture of a sinister plot that is informed by politics of conquest, ethnic supremacy, clan chauvinism and petty balkanisation motivated by individual political interests.”
During his visit in Laikipia, the CS said most of the challenges being witnessed in Laikipia and parts of Northern Kenya are simply because of next year’s elections.
“Let us be honest about the problem we are facing. Half of it is because we are approaching elections. Some people want to flex their political muscle by attacking and displacing others,” he said.
Other than Laikipia, other Counties affected by ethnic clashes include Marsabit, Wajir, Isiolo and Garissa.Tens of lives have been lost in the process.
Over the weekend, two General Service Unit officers were shot and injured in Laikipia, in an ambush by gunmen at Loisaba ranch.
The incident happened as the two officers who were on patrol were changing a car tyre.
The area has been hit by a wave of cattle rustling and illegal grazing now for years. Laikipia is a vast but harsh place to raise cattle, needing careful management to avoid overgrazing.
Like in all other conflict hit areas, communities in Laikipia are fighting over water and pasture for their livestock.
Tens of thousands of cattle belonging to Samburu, Pokot and Maasai pastoralists have been said to destroy the delicate balance, tearing through the landscape while consuming every piece of pasture and moving on.
The commercial farmers blame overgrazing and poor management for destroying previously fertile pasture.
Most of the large farms are owned by White Kenyans. The hundreds of thousands of acres were seized by the British during the colonial era, leading to land disputes which continue to this day.
But intelligence reports indicate that it is the politicians who are largely to blame for the violence.
“One such motive is to displace communities seen as rivals for political gain,” an intelligence officer based in Laikipia told Shahidi News.
The officer said the said politicians exploit the emotive historical challenges to advance their agenda, including violence.
“With violence, some people are obviously set to be displaced and that is the main goal for the politicians,” another intelligence officer said. “They do this in the hope that they will settle other people say of their communities and have them registered as voters.”
Laikipia Governor Ndiritu Muriithi has equally admitted that there is a hidden hand of politicians in the ethnic clashes.
His sentiments were echoed by Laikipia North Member of Parliament Sarah Korere.
“The truth is that 80 percent of the violence is as a result of politicians. The other 20 percent is caused by the competition for resources,” the legislator said.
But what has the government done to stop the inciting leaders?
Hundreds of police officers including those from the dreaded General Service Unit have since been deployed in the area to deal with “the illegal herders.” More officers have also been deployed in the troubled areas of Northern Kenya.
The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF|) are also set to compliment the efforts of police in restoring peace and more so in the border Counties.
The government is among other things seeking to reclaim some 80,000 acres of land that has been the centre of war.
There are however concerns that the security operation might lead to civilian casualties and destruction of property, like it has happened in the past, as well as other forms of human rights violation.
Some locals have accused police of killing more than 200 heads of cattle along Laikipia-Isiolo boarder at the initial stages of the operation.
Others say some 50 families were displaced during the operation- with a dozen herders said to be missing.
In Marsabit, the ethnic clashes have claimed 20 lives in 4 weeks. A disarmament operation is currently ongoing in the border county.
On July 15, President Kenyatta held a consultative meeting with a cross-section of leaders from Marsabit as part of ongoing sustained government efforts to address security concerns in the county.
During the meeting at State House, Nairobi, the President expressed his concerns over the cyclic flare-ups of inter-community conflicts in Marsabit despite sustained efforts by government and non-State partners to foster sustainable peace in the vast County.
He urged the leaders to use their positions of influence to foster peace and reconciliation, noting that the hallmark of true leadership is to bequeath present and future generations a peaceful, prosperous, and united Marsabit County.
The President observed that the violent conflicts leading to loss of lives, destruction of property, and displacement of persons are largely as a result of incitement by selfish politicians and community leaders.
The leaders, who included elected officials at both national and county levels, serving State officials, clergy, and other community officials, were reminded of past failed efforts to attain sustainable peace, and affirmed their individual and collective civic duty to promote peace in Marsabit County and the region.
The Head of State challenged the leadership and the people Marsabit to honour heroic Kenyans who’ve lost their lives over the years in pursuit of peace in the region, especially, the seven leaders who painfully perished in the 2006 plane crash while on a peace mission to the county by ensuring peace and harmony exists in the region.
According to CS Matiangi, “What stokes the violence is an entrenched culture of defiance at legitimate authority that has unfortunately become synonymous with heroism in the country.”
“Political practice is the greatest agent of criminal activities in Kenya. Leaders exploit the poor by using them as a political collateral in supremacy conquests. Bloody seasonal disputes in pastoral lands point to incitement by sections of the political class that exploit violence to advance political, commercial and criminal interests.”
Will the recent peace efforts in Laikipia and parts of Northern Kenya bear fruits without holding to account the real troublemakers?
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