Why KDF cannot win battle against rustling in N. Kenya

A few weeks ago, a man committed suicide after he lost all his livestock, not to drought but to bullets fired by security officers in Laikipia. A neighbour has lost his mind after losing all his animals.

It is hard to comprehend the state of mind of the people who recently lost 100 camels to police bullets in Tana River. But what exactly are the causes of insecurity among pastoralists? Why is the Kenyan Government being haunted by insecurity in the north? There are several reasons for this.

First, there are education disparities. According to statistics, the highest illiteracy levels in Kenya are found among pastoralist communities in counties such as Samburu (25.9 per cent) Marsabit (35.7 per cent), and Mandera (41.2 per cent). The current regime is not entirely to blame for this.

 

 Consistent educational and infrastructural marginalisation has disadvantaged the pastoralist communities right from independence. While it is easy to dismiss the link between illiteracy and conflict, there is no doubt that an uneducated population is much easier to control.

Behind the raids are powerful and influential forces with the ability to get access to sophisticated firearms and make these easily available to scores of uneducated youths.

 

Then there is the lack of diversity in income-generating activities. In this region, the cow is king. A dead cow is not like a farm which you can re-plant and harvest the next rainy season; a dead cow is just that - dead and gone.

So it is certainly rational for communities in this region to do all they can to save their families' sole source of a livelihood. Finally, we must remember that in the 1990s, one of Kenya's strategies to safeguard the country against hostile neighbours was to arm the pastoralist living along the boundaries.

 

The men were given arms and uniforms and named 'homeguards'. Over time, they resorted to protecting their own. So, what is the way forward? The Government needs to stop blaming us or, worse, seeing us as enemies of the State.

The amount of time, resources, and energy being utilised to disarm residents of northern Kenya - without much success - and the deployment of KDF should be channelled to improving the region's educational and economic status. Naisula Lepariyo, Samburu.