The government has warned politicians from northern region against inciting violence among communities in the wake of the ongoing inter-clan clashes between two communities along the Marsabit-Wajir border.
The skirmishes, which begun a few days ago, have left at least nine people dead and over 200 displaced.
The IDPs are currently camping in Basir, Eldas Sub-County where they fled after the fighting broke out.
Four people are also currently missing following the clashes over grazing land between the Degodia and Borana communities in Sololo, Marsabit County.
Speaking during a recent peace meeting in Badan-Rero village, North Eastern Regional Commissioner Nicodemus Ndalana cautioned the politicians against involving innocent locals in the fights in their quest for political power.
“As much as there are some criminal elements involved in these killings, I personally pray that the politicians are not part of this because if it involves the politicians, it is easy for us as the government to reach them and bring them to book,” warned Mr Ndalana.
He added, “I know there are some things currently going on in the political arena in the race towards the 2022 elections. But I am kindly requesting those who begin such issues not to direct them to the innocent civilians.”
Mr Ndalana also warned chiefs against involving themselves in the fighting amongst communities saying they will be stripped of their titles and sacked.
He further called for an immediate end to the fighting, saying the government will not hesitate in dealing ruthlessly with all the parties involved.
“We’d given you a chance like this for you to reconcile but we will not speak over this issue again because we will not allow innocent Kenyans to be killed again,” he said.
Marsabit Governor Mohamud Ali blamed the security agencies for not doing enough and challenged them to act with speed in case of such occurrences.
“There is something that I have failed to understand; why is it that our police officers do not punish these criminals instantly whenever they engage in illegal acts? Every time we are being told investigations are being done with no result. This is a wake-up call to your security agencies to address the issue,” Mr Ali said.
During the meeting, which also involved political leaders from the two counties, elders and other officials, a number of resolution were made including the return of all livestock that had been stolen during the fighting.
“I want to assure you that following our meeting between all the area leaders and elders, we have decided that no single camel belonging to the Degodia will remain in the hands of the Borana and for those who will go against the directive the government will deal with them,” said Mr Ali.
Wajir Governor Mohamed Abdi stated that for many years, pastoralists in the two counties have been co-existing peacefully without any problem and attributed the recent fighting to lack of dialogue between the communities.
“Following the recent events, we have learned our lesson that going forward we will be initiating talks between the communities [from] both sides before taking our animals to graze on either side of the two counties,” said Mr Abdi.
He appealed to the communities from both sides to co-exist peacefully and desist from further fighting.
The leaders also resolved to the formation of an inter-ethnic (Borana and Degodia communities) peace and social cohesion committee.
Other resolutions include the installation of a mobile phone network to enhance communication and information sharing along the common border of the two counties and building of roads along the border to allow rapid response by security agencies in case of any incidents in the future.
They also resolved to hold another meeting in Basir on a date that will be agreed upon by leaders and other stakeholders.
