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IRIN hat geschrieben:KENYA: Inter-ethnic clashes result in deaths, school closures
21.10.2011 - IRIN

ISIOLO - A flare-up in inter-ethnic fighting between communities in the northern Kenyan region of Isiolo over pasture and water has left at least 14 people dead and affected learning as schools closed amid rising insecurity, say officials.

Borana and Turkana pastoralists clashed several times between 13 and 18 October, according to UN reports.

On 14 October, for example, seven people were shot dead in Tractor village, Ngaremara Division, Isiolo. According to local media reports, they included two 12-year-old children, who were dragged out of their huts and shot as their parents watched.

According to Dominic Opee, the Isiolo District Education Officer, the insecurity in Ngaremara has led to the closure of at least six schools. "We are concerned that innocent children are losing a very important opportunity to access education," said Opee.

An estimated 3,000 children in the Ngaremara and Central divisions are affected - even as pupils countrywide prepare for the main primary school leaving exams in November.

"We regret these unfortunate incidents. [Some] parents and two pupils have been killed," said Dade Boru, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Isiolo Branch Executive Secretary, adding that some of the teachers had received death threats too.

"Teachers must not be considered as enemies even if they belong to a community which is perceived as a rival group; this perception adversely affects equitable distribution of teachers, performance and heightens animosity amongst the warring communities and wrecks the minds of our children," said Boru.

KNUT has advised affected teachers to remain at home and requested transfers for those who have been threatened.

The teachers in Isiolo are predominantly from the Borana, Somali and Meru communities.

Ekwam Terru, a local Turkana leader, said: "[The] Turkana have suffered a series of raids. We have been killed, thousands of our livestock stolen, we no longer have enough land for grazing our few animals.

"This is not normal banditry or cattle rustling, it's a scheme to uproot us from our grazing land," said Terru.

Josephine Ekiru, also a Turkana, said women were not able to access Isiolo Town for medical care and to buy food. "Some families have slept hungry some days. They have been unable to get into town to buy food; most of them sell charcoal to buy food [but] it's risky and some have been attacked," she said.

An Isiolo leader, Joseph Samal, said families were abandoning the good grazing areas in Gottu, Attan and Daaba to congregate in areas around Ngaremara, which lacks adequate pasture.

The insecurity has also affected the trade in livestock and related products from areas farther north, such as Marsabit and Moyale, to Nairobi after a truck driver was killed in a revenge attack.

A camel milk vendor, Marian Maalim, told IRIN that the movement of camel herds away from Isiolo Town, due to a fear of raids, had affected business. Maalim sells the milk to customers in Nairobi's Eastleigh Estate.

In response, the government has deployed hundreds of security officers to the area and was pursuing the attackers, said the Upper Eastern Regional commissioner Isaiah Nakoru.

"We have police officers in all the affected villages and grazing areas; no attack has occurred since Monday [17 October]," he said.

"Tension remains high in Isiolo due to a general fear of retaliatory attacks," says the UN, adding that the activities of some UN agencies operating in the region had been affected due to restrictions on movement.

IRIN hat geschrieben: KENYA: Several thousand displaced as communities clash in north
23.12.2011 - IRIN

MOYALE - Several weeks of fighting between two rival communities in Moyale, near the Ethiopia-Kenya border, [ http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=94053 ] has displaced hundreds of families and disrupted transport services. The displaced have had no assistance, local sources and activists told IRIN.

Tension remains high in the area, residents say, as more families flee the resource-linked conflict between the Gabra and Borana pastoralist communities. The fighting was triggered by an attempt by both communities to seize a grazing area. Northern Kenya is prone to community conflicts over resources. [ http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=94031 ]

"The latest fighting has displaced over 6,600 people who have abandoned their farms and grazing fields; no animals are going to watering points located in areas affected by the conflict," Rashid Osman, a local leader, told IRIN on 22 December.

An estimated 15 people have died in the fighting, the latest deaths occurring on 20 December - a woman and four herders.

"Baboons are having a feast, feeding on maize which was ready for harvest but the owners have fled; hyenas are feasting on cows and goats which have been abandoned in grazing areas or were left in their sheds," Osman said.

Of those displaced, the Gabra families have sought refuge in Kinisa, a village along the Ethiopia-Kenya border while the Borana are in Butiye, about 4km from Kenya's border with Ethiopia. Most of the displaced were from Oda, Funanyatta, Adesa, Ngibe, Kalaliwe, Illadu and Funandimo villages.

Mubarak Wario, a humanitarian activist and local leader, said the displaced had not received relief aid since they had fled, some as early as November.

Aid needed

"The displaced Boranas and Gabras all need protection; they need to go back to their homes; they require urgent food and medical assistance," Wario said. "It is painful to see children and women sleeping in the open."

Sheikh Omar, an imam at Oda mosque, told IRIN: "I have lost all my belongings, all the 200 goats that I struggled to buy over the last 10 years. The goats were my main source of livelihood."

Mohamud Wako, a retired military officer from the Gabra community, said his mother died after she was stoned and her throat slit during the fighting on 20 December.

"Clashes between our communities seem to be getting worse; it is unbelievable people can turn against each other, kill and steal when they share similar problems, inter-marry and are supposed to work together to improve their lives," Wako said.

The fighting has paralysed transport services, with many residents stranded in Isiolo, Marsabit and Moyale towns after operators of public service vehicles suspended operations.

"We are likely to face a problem of food shortages and high prices of essential goods. Sugar has already increased from Sh200 [US$3] to 240 [$4] a kilo," Ahmed Sadik, a trader and resident of Moyale, said.

Issaih Nakoru, the regional commissioner for Upper Eastern, visited Moyale on 22 December. He said a peace meeting was planned to pacify the fighting groups.

"We have launched a series of peace meetings from today. All the elders, local leaders and clerics have been brought on board; we have also deployed a strong team of security officers to all the affected areas," Nakoru said.

Disarming of police reservists

It was resolved at a security meeting on 22 December that all police reservists in the affected area would be disarmed as they have been accused by local communities of using state-issued guns to fight their communities' rivals. An estimated 70 police reservists are from the two warring communities.

"Police officers have been deployed to Oda, Sololo and to the border area where inter-clan skirmishes have occurred. They are patrolling and have managed to restore calm," Nakoru said after the security meeting.

He said the displaced would be offered food aid and assisted to recover stolen livestock.

"It's our [state] obligation to hunt down cattle rustlers and not tribal militia. Besides, all the home guards have been instructed to hand over guns issued by the government by Friday [23 December]. All persons who either raided or killed are being pursued and they must be punished," Nakoru said.

IRIN hat geschrieben: KENYA: Deaths, displacement in Isiolo fighting
28.12.2011 - IRIN

ISIOLO - Fighting between communities over grazing land in northern Kenya's Isiolo region has led to at least 10 deaths and the displacement of some 2,000 people in the past three days, according to local leaders and residents.

The fighting, mainly between the members of the Turkana and Somali communities, with some Borana siding with the Somalis, has disrupted transport and trade networks and hampered access to farms and communal grazing areas.

The camel milk trade has been affected, with traders who take the milk to Nairobi daily unable to access grazing fields. Residents have also reported a shortage of charcoal due to lack of access to trading centres.

The areas most affected by the fighting are Burat, Mulango, Kilimani and Kampi ya Juu, all in Isiolo central division. A similar conflict, involving the Gabra and Borana communities in Moyale, near the Ethiopia-Kenya border, recently displaced several thousands of people. [ http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=94535 ].

At a funeral in Isiolo's Kambi Oda cemetery on 26 December, Mohamed Kuti, the minister for livestock production, said those fuelling the fighting should be arrested and those with guns disarmed. According to police sources, no arrests have been made so far.

"These clashes must be brought to an end immediately. Many lives have been lost; many people have abandoned their homes. Security officials, the entire [district] security committee team must be moved and punished for failing to do its work," Kuti said.

Residents of the affected areas told IRIN tension remains high as more families continue to flee - most of them to Isiolo town - fearing more attacks. Some 2,000 members of the Turkana community are reported to have arrived in the town in recent days.

Isiolo has seen an escalation in violence since October 2010, with analysts pointing to the town's planned economic expansion as well as elections due in 2012 as key drivers of conflict. [ http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=94312 ]

Blame game

Members of the warring communities have traded accusations over who is responsible.

Paul Mero, a Turkana leader, said members of his community had been forced to abandon their homes, farms and businesses. "Bandits are being used to force the Turkana to leave; we are being fought to pave way for other people to settle on our ancestral land. It is not fair that we are blamed and accused of being cattle rustlers."

Dozens of Somali herders and families from areas affected by fighting have also been displaced and are unable to access grazing fields.

Somow Mohamed, a Somali elder, told IRIN he was unable to reach Burat, where his camels are grazing and was only communicating with his herders by phone.

"The road to Burat has been blocked by armed Turkanas. We cannot access our animals," Mohamed said. "I am informed some of my camels are sick but I cannot take the drugs required to treat them."

He added that more than 1,000 families who depended on camel milk to sustain their families were now desperate. "These families depend on the sale of camel milk to buy food and clothes, [and] pay fees and drugs for those who are sick; now they have no option but to beg. We have been forced to become beggars by these bandits," Mohamed said.

Local councillor Ekuam Terru said attacks on the Turkana were political: "We have suffered for many years as a result of politics. The situation is now worse because it is now a combination of politics and campaigns to take away the land, sand and farms of the Turkana."

House set ablaze

Halima Mohamed, a resident of Kambi Garba, said she lost her belongings when her house was set ablaze.

"I am now staying with relatives. My house was burnt; all my clothes, my children's clothes and books got burnt; now I am an internally displaced person. The government should help us the same way it has been helping those who were displaced by the post-election violence [of 2007-2008]."

Mary Ekuot, a mother of five, is among 200 displaced Turkanas at Kambi ya Juu Church. She said she fled her home on the night of 25 December after a neighbour informed her that youths from the rival community were planning to attack her village that night.

"I left my house to spend the night in the open at the church so as to escape death; I have witnessed many deaths this year," Ekuot said. "When my neighbour informed me that a group of youths from her tribe were planning to attack us on Sunday [22 December] night, I left immediately to save my life and my children."

IRIN hat geschrieben:KENYA: Thousands flee fatal clashes in Moyale
05.01.2012 - IRIN

MOYALE - At least six people have been killed in a fresh wave of fighting between two rival groups near the northern Kenya town of Moyale, prompting thousands to flee their homes, aid agencies and residents told IRIN.

The latest clashes between the Borana and Gabra communities, which follow weeks of unrest in December [ http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportID=94535 ], began on 3 January and continued into the following day.

The fighting reportedly broke out after a disagreement between youths at a peace meeting degenerated first into an exchange of stones, then gunfire.

The Kenya Red Cross Society said six people had so far been confirmed dead, three of them children, and dozens of houses had been burnt. Three other people were reported to have sustained serious injuries.

Difficulties in accessing the affected villages of Odha, Kanisa, Masille, Iladu and Hellu led officials to believe the final toll could rise significantly,

Some 1,700 children from these villages have been unable to attend school because they fled with their families to Moyale town, according to one education official.

Reacting to complaints of government inaction, Regional Commissioner Issah Nakoru said: "Our people must be assured that the government has deployed more than 1,000 security officers in Moyale and Isiolo [ http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportID=94555 ] [about 500km to the southwest]."

Residents "have a role to play. Tell us those who among them are engaged in the fight and those who are inciting the communities to fight," he said.

The violence in Moyale continued as a ten year old boy was killed by armed bandits in Butiye estate in Moyale and four others injured in a fresh attack on Thursday ... Dr Dabassa and his team of KRCS officials also came under two grenade attacks as they head to violence hit area in rescue mission. However, none of the officers were injured since the explosives failed to detonate. The warring tribes of Borana and Gabra engaged each other in 10 hours of gun battle since 11 am on Thursday in Butiye estate. The violence which broke out in Helu on Tuesday spread to other parts of the district.

Eastern police boss Marcus Ochola said the Oromo Liberation Front is involved in the violence that has rocked Moyale in the last four days. The clashes, said the officer, are unprecedented “in vigour and intensity.” “We are investigating whether the rebels may have crossed the border to help in the fighting because the vigour displayed indicates that it is not just ethnic fighting,” he said.

KENYA: Several thousand displaced after fresh clashes in Isiolo
02.04.2012 - IRIN

ISIOLO - Hundreds of families in the central county of Isiolo have been displaced as deadly clashes pitting the Borana, Somali and Turkana communities escalate.

Ibrahim Sheikh Mohamud, a leader from the neighbouring Wajir region, told IRIN that at least 210 Isiolo families have been taken to the Anjara area in Wajir West in the past week. "They are now settled at Anjara but they sleep in the open. Almost all the children have pneumonia and malaria. They need tents, food assistance and drugs," Mohamud told IRIN in Isiolo.

Among those fleeing the violence are widows, orphaned children and livestock herders who have lost their herds to raiders in the past year.

"We only ferried children, women and the elderly using trucks that were offered by individuals," said Mohamud. "Some of us contributed fuel and food to assist these families; they are in a very pathetic situation."

In the latest attack on 30 March, a young girl and an adult were shot dead less than 5km from Isiolo town. Five other people, among them a female teacher, were killed on 28 March in nearby Kilimani.

According to UN sources, two ethnic Boranas were reportedly killed by suspected Turkana gunmen in the Gambella area along the Isiolo-Garba Tulla road on 30 March, raising fears the incident could spark further revenge attacks in the coming days.

Ordered out

Herders from Wajir and Mandera districts have also started leaving Isiolo following a government directive.

"We have lost a lot of animals and people," said Hassan Nurow, a livestock owner who was heading to Wajir. "We were expecting the government to protect us but unfortunately... [the government] instead ordered us to leave and blamed us for causing the skirmishes."

The acting permanent secretary for provincial administration and internal security, Mutea Iringo, last week ordered all migrant pastoralists to leave Isiolo.

"These people have no reason to be around. They came here because of the drought. It has rained [and] Northeastern [Province] has enough pasture, so they have to leave immediately," Iringo told IRIN.

The herders were said to have been asked by local politicians to remain in Isiolo to allow them to register to vote in the upcoming 2013 elections. Politics and planned development schemes have fuelled an upsurge in inter-communal killings [ http://www.irinnews.org/Report/94312/KE ... powder-keg ] and displacements in Isiolo since mid-October 2011.

According to Iringo, some of the three communities' political leaders have been instigating clashes for personnel gain. "Some of the so-called herders - claiming to be innocent - are crooks involved in the gun-running business," he said.

"They had established Isiolo as a storage place for the guns... Evidence attesting to this [is] available. Some have been arrested selling guns or while poaching."

Meanwhile, traders and business people are suffering.

"I have lost many animals. I had to sell four camels at 360,000 shillings (US$4,390) to hire home guards and rent a house for my family," local livestock farmer Abdi Salan Sheikh, told IRIN.

He said he had lost more than 50 camels and 246 goats, and has had to move his family back to Mandera, in the northeast. "My children have been unable to secure a place in school in Mandera until next term."

Shariff Mohamed, a Somali camel milk trader in Isiolo, told IRIN business rivalry was also a problem. "We have a group of people who fear that Somalis will take control of the town. I am not moving but unfortunately I only get 40 litres [of milk] unlike in the past when I used to sell 200 litres to Nairobi every day."

Turkanas displaced

The violence has displaced at least 500 Turkana families from Isiolo town. They are now seeking refuge in Isiolo's Ngaremara Location and in neighbouring Laikipia and Samburu districts, Ekwam Terru, a local Turkana leader, told IRIN.

"We have lost a lot. [Most] of our people are camping at a church in Ngaremara. Almost a thousand have moved to Samburu and Laikipia; they include school children." He said at least 5,000 ethnic Turkana had been displaced and more than 122 of their houses torched.

A Ngaremara livestock trader said he is no longer able to access the Isiolo livestock market: "I have nothing now. My house was burnt. I have abandoned my farm. My kids are out of school."

"We are in a worse condition and more desperate than Somalis [in Somalia] who have been fighting for over two decades," said the trader.

According to upper eastern regional commissioner Isaiah Nakoru, the government has deployed security officers in the area and appealed to residents to help end the conflict, which has left dozens dead and displaced thousands since late 2011.