The gruesome reality of deadly cattle raids in the Rift Valley is an old one.
However, the fact that the bandits seek the blessings of elders, and the role played by the old men in encouraging killings, has sparked an uproar, with the government linking the spate of attacks in the volatile Kapedo, on the border of Tiaty and Turkana East Sub-counties, to oaths administered on the criminals.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has said preliminary reports indicate that the recent ambush on security officers in which General Service Unit operations commander Emadau Tabakol was shot dead two weeks ago by armed criminals in Ameyan, a few kilometres from Kapedo, took place against the backdrop of a ritualistic ceremony in which the killers were blessed by elders.
The elders are respected and held in high regard among the Pokot. Their duties are distinct, with seers and magicians, referred to as werkoi and kapolok respectively in the Pokot community, and ekadwaran and emuron among the Turkana, playing different roles.
According to Mr Julius Akeno, a resident of Tiaty, the seers ‘predict’ what will happen by reading animal intestines before a mission.
“The werkoi study the intestines and can predict how the entire raid will go, right from when the bandits leave the villages until they reach their destination. They can tell what will transpire, the behaviour of the enemy and if their mission will be fruitful. They advise them how they should go about everything,” said Mr Akeno.
The community believes that, once the magicians administer charms on the warriors, referred to as luk in the Pokot community, they become invincible and can invade a village, steal livestock and leave unharmed.
“No one will see them and they will not be harmed in any way. Even when bombs are detonated where they are hiding, they will come out unscathed,” said the elder.
It is said that only specific families have these talents and in some instances, young boys possess the skill. In this case, the boy is mandated to relay the information to an elder, who then gives the advice to the bandits.
“You may not know which boy in the family has the skill and they tend to hide the fact. The elder only relays the information from the moning —a child. The recipients don’t have to question who said it, but just heed the instructions,” he explained.
Mr Akeno writes in his book, “Patrons of Wild Suguta Valley”, that the locals consulted the seer over their problems and the community did not call him by his name, but believed he could hear when people talked about him.
“When a person visited him, he would know in advance the reason for the visit and he was referred to as moning , or a child, to show his purity of heart, simplicity and innocence. Any advice to the community would be relayed without mentioning his name and everybody would obey without questioning,” reads part of the book. The reason behind the secrecy was for his own security and that of the community.
The author describes how young men fetched leaves that they spread on the ground and slaughtered bull. The fortune teller then examined the dead animal’s guts to foretell omens.
“He stood to fasten the loose clothing tagged on his waist, removed his sandals then trod with caution towards the dead animal. This was his sacred domain. He stretched his hand and patted the dead animal’s belly, then made an excision on its flanks with the blade of a spear. Carefully, he patted and flattened the intestines and began looking for signs.
“He paid attention to every vein, lymph node, spots and every turn and twist of the organs. After he was satisfied that he had gathered enough information, he brushed his hands with leaves, a sign that he was through with the reading,” the book explains how the community carried out the rituals.
According to the community, prayers, charms and blessings work well if the right people are consulted.
The ritual is normally carried out when the raid is communally sanctioned and especially, when they want to retaliate an attack.
“It is normally planned for several days ... and involves hundreds of bandits... spies would be sent (beforehand for reconaisance) ,” says Mr Akeno.
A thorough vetting is done by the elders on the group of men who will go for the raid. Normally, men who have not been involved in cases such as adultery are selected, to avoid bringing bad luck to their counterparts.
“This is a requirement that is strictly observed by the elders to ensure that those going for the raid are without any blemish. The unclean people are deemed bad luck,” he said.
According to the community, anyone who has committed murder is unclean and has to undergo a cleansing ritual known as labai . After the ritual, he is not permitted to interact with people freely, but remains in solitude for a month before he can be allowed to go for another raid.
However, there are some unscrupulous elders who administer blessings on armed criminals secretly, without the knowledge of the community.
“This normally involves some few criminals who go to seek the service of the elders secretly and in most cases it is done at night. Those few criminals, likely less than 10 people, are not sanctioned by the community but are doing so for their own vested interests,” says Mr Akeno.
“The raids sanctioned by the community are usually a success but the ones organised by criminals fail and, in most cases, they are killed in the process,” he adds.
The genuine elders are not paid because it is their obligation in the community to do so, while the other group demands pay, mostly in terms of the proceeds the bandits get from the raid.
According to Colonel (Rtd) Moses Kwonyike, the government should first reach out to the elders, who are the ones who organise and sanction the attacks.
“The government should use the bottom-up approach in reaching out to the elders instead of carrying out a forceful disarmament. You cannot purport to carry out such an exercise without knowing their armoury. The elders perpetuate the cycle of violence because they bless the armed bandits,” said Col Kwonyike.
As a solution to the cattle rustling menace, the retired soldier recommends stringent measures in the banditry-prone areas of the country.
“They should reach out to the main perpetrators — the elders — who bless these criminals, fix the chiefs in the banditry-prone areas by making them accountable for what is happening in their jurisdictions and force children to go to school,” said the ex-soldier who also served as a military adviser to the head of United Nations African Mission in Darfur.
A resident of the insecurity-prone Chemoe in Baringo North regretted that hundreds of lives had been lost in the attacks, courtesy of the elders.
“The old men from the Pokot community should be arrested because they are behind the perennial insecurity in this region. These criminals cannot stage an attack without their help and if they are stopped, the attacks will end,” he said.
“I am sure that, if these old men are arrested, then this violence will also stop. They are abetting the crime,” complained the resident.
According to Colonel (Rtd) Moses Kwonyike, as a solution to the cattle rustling menace,the government should first reach out to the elders, who organise and sanction the attacks. “They should reach out to the main perpetrators — the elders — who bless these criminals, fix the chiefs in the banditry-prone areas by making them accountable for what is happening in their jurisdictions and force children to go to school,” said the ex-soldier who also served as a military adviser to the head of United Nations African Mission in Darfur.
An elder from the insecurity-prone Chemoe in Baringo North regretted that hundreds of lives had been lost in the attacks, courtesy of the elders.
“The old Pokot men should be arrested because they are behind the perennial insecurity in this region. These criminals cannot stage an attack without their help and if they are stopped, the attacks will end,” he said. “I am sure that, if these old men are arrested, then this violence will also stop. They are abetting crime,” said the elder.
