Matabithi residents hope Matiang'i visit will bring security

Meru County Commissioner Karuku Ngumo briefs the press on the killing of seven people in Tigania region by suspected camel herders from Isiolo County. [George Kiamenyi, Standard]

Located near Meru-Isiolo border, Matabithi is a lonely place where most residents mainly rely on livestock for survival.

In the semi-arid region where rains are always long in coming thus compromising sustenance, cattle rustling incidents are not uncommon. And so are deaths from such incidents. In addition to cattle raids, lack of pasture has been a major source of conflict among the communities that live on Isiolo and Meru sides, including Borana, Turkana and Meru.

They hope Interior and Coordination of National Government Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi’s expected visit of the region today will provide solutions for their insecurity troubles, which has resulted in deaths and loss of livelihoods. It is at this informal settlement that some people have lived for over 10 years, driven there to escape violent attacks by people who drove them from their homes.

Recently, herders from Isiolo attacked residents as the conflict over pasture reared its ugly head for the umpteenth time. Seven people were killed at different places in the area on January 5, when camel herders from Isiolo shot them in a conflict over grazing areas. Governor Kiraitu Murungi ordered all immigrant herders in Meru to move out, and County Commissioner Ngumo Karuku announced various measures to restore security, including an exercise to mop up illicit arms in the areas.

For Nguthuri Chebere, he lives in a shack in the IDP camp at Matabithi. He moved here after he was driven from his land at Kirithiri by the herders

“I have land at Kirithiri, but I cannot be able to go back there because I do not want to get killed. I have escaped death a few times. it was grabbed by people who said they bought it,” he says, his voice breaking.

Meru Assembly Majority Leader Victor Kariithi who coordinated the burial of the seven, and is raising funds to assist their families, said the main issue was land grabbing as a result of a flawed land adjudication process in the area.

“People who are well connected or with money have come over and settled, purely because they collude with land and other government officers, denying the rightful owners their rights,” said Kariithi.

The grabbers had gone to the extent of driving residents out, erecting fences and sinking boreholes, forcing people out of homes.