Questions abound about the circumstances that led to the shooting to death of nearly 300 cows at the border of Laikipia and Samburu counties on Friday.
The conflicting accounts given by the police and the owners of the cattle raise a lot of questions. Was it a case of trigger-happy policemen aiming and shooting at the hapless animals grazing in the fields? Were the animals collateral damage as alleged by the police after an ambush by armed herders?
Whatever the case, the latest bout of skirmishes in the Laikipia plains only serves to drive deeper the wedge between the pastoralists (who are yet to accept that the land changed ownership a long time ago) and the ranchers - who feel (rightfully) that they need to enjoy the full rights of the land they have invested in. The latest incident demands that a long-lasting solution be found before the situation gets out of hand.
Sadly, the killing of the cattle only serves to embitter the herders and sour the relations between the ranchers, estimated to own a million acres of land, and the pastoralist communities who wander through the plains in search of pasture for their cattle, and security officers who must ensure that respect for private property is respected.
If it is true that there was an ambush, then that surely is one manifestation of the simmering conflict in the area that seems to have sucked in the security authorities.
Sending the police to drive away the herders by killing their animals does not address the underlying problem; that of land ownership and the adverse effects of global warming.
In truth, land invasion by pastoralists has been on the rise partly because of the effect of global warming and bad farm practices that have left swathes of arable land barren. Startlingly, the authorities seem to hold the view that sending the police, who then use lethal force to evict the farmers, rather than talking and addressing the underlying issues, will solve the problem.
In March, more than 600 cattle were killed in another operation led by the KDF and the police following the death of Tristan Voorspuy, a British rancher. In April, author and conservationist Kuki Gallmann, whose memoir I Dreamed of Africa was turned into a Hollywood film, was critically injured in an attack suspected to have been carried out by armed herders. And in July, six policemen were killed in an ambush suspected to have been carried out by pastoralists.
Evidently, there seems to be a pattern of an eye for an eye. So to avert more attacks, the local politicians, the ranchers, the herders and the security personnel need to talk.
