Four killed, 9 injured as rival herders clash in Isiolo

GARISSA: Four people have died and nine others were injured as herders from two rival communities engaged in a gun battle for hours at Attan, Isiolo Central.

The herders from Turkana and Samburu were reported to have initially disagreed over access to pasture and a water point but the disagreement later degenerated into a rustling attempt and an outright gun battle that started at around midday and ended at 6pm on Tuesday.

Isiolo Deputy County Commissioner Julius Mayo Wednesday said one side lost a man and five others were injured while their rivals had three fatalities and four injuries. "In total, four people were killed and nine injured. The injured are admitted in various hospitals," said Mr Mayo. During the crossfire, four cattle died and several others were injured.

Former Ngaremara Ward Councilor Ekuam Teru said his cow was shot dead when one side attempted to steal Attan villagers' cattle.

"They attempted to steal the villagers' cattle. One of the cows killed belongs to me. The home guards managed to repulse the attackers," said Mr Teru.

However, Oldonyiro Ward Rep, who is also the deputy Speaker of Isiolo County Assembly, David Lemantile, said the two sides clashed over access to pasture and water points.

The rivalry between the two sides reared its ugly head further after they sought to admit their wounded fighters to the hospital. One side took their wounded to Isiolo Level Four Hospital while their rivals opted for Kirua Mission Hospital in Meru County after they were allegedly blocked from accessing the Government facility in Isiolo by their foes.

One of the patients admitted at Kirua was later transferred to Kenyatta National Hospital, according to Mr Lemantile. The two rival sides, who are neighbours, recently clashed openly, and more than 15 people were killed in separate incidents. Last year on April 25, three people were killed and two others injured in separate incidents pitting the two rival communities.

 TRAFFIC PARALYSED

Two people were killed and others injured at Leruko in Ngaremara location after their village was attacked by their rivals.

Earlier on that day, an elderly man was gunned down at Attan in the same location as he was preparing to burn wood for charcoal.

Last September, 11 people were killed when the two sides engaged each other in a gun battle for more than 10 hours at Leruko. In protest, Ngaremara residents blocked the Isiolo-Moyale road that paralysed traffic for two days.

Elsewhere, school heads in Northern Kenya are proposing a raft of desperate measures in reaction to raging insecurity in the region.

They want all schools in the region closed and national examinations suspended indefinitely as a solution to the insecurity is sought.

Speaking during the Kenya Secondary School Heads Association Regional Conference in Garissa, regional Chairman Abdi Moulid said the salaries of teachers who had boycotted teaching in the area should be chanelled back to the respective schools to enable them hire replacements.

The teachers said Parliament should institute a policy change to provide for recruitment of untrained teachers and merger of all small schools close to each other to address the biting teacher shortage.

The school administrators said there is a shortfall of 2,122 teachers in the three counties in both primary and secondary schools.

Garissa Governor Nathif Jama, who opened the conference that was also attended by his Wajir counterpart Ahmed Abdullahi, vowed to invest more in education.