Pragmatic approach needed for the North Rift's conflicts

Many Kenyans appear to have resigned to fate that the North Rift region comprising Elgeyo Marakwet, Baringo, West Pokot, Turkana, Samburu and Laikipia counties, is a hostile environment that is characterised by death and desperation.

Consequently, it is no longer surprising to most people that there should be violent conflicts in the region. After all, that is what defines that part of Kenya.

This attitude of hopelessness appears to have penetrated the core decision-making organs of the government and continues to define its responses to the conflicts in the region. In these circumstances, no permanent solutions have been developed to rid the region of needless conflicts.

 Interior CS Kithure Kindiki.

Every time there's conflict in the region, the government's response can always be predicted. The Provincial Administration instructs the combatants to hand in their firearms to the state or face unspecified consequences. A few guns are handed in, and everyone is pacified.

A few months down the road, there are even more severe conflicts, with tens of human lives lost and hundreds of livestock stolen. Police officers are deployed to pursue the bandits. A few animals are recovered, the government celebrates the success of the minor operation, and the pursuit stops.

Pundits say that in all these incidents, the most embarrassing thing to the government is that, almost invariably, the police officers are out-gunned by the bandits who have superior firepower and understand the terrain better.

What baffles me is why the government thinks that it can bring about a permanent solution to the perennial conflict situation in the North Rift by sending in security officers to pursue the bandits.

Scorched-earth

In most cases, the security operations adopt a scorched-earth approach in which the region under curfew is 'swept clean', leaving in its wake corpses, maimed people, women nursing rape wounds, children separated from their families, dysfunctional schools and other social amenities and terrified citizens. The only thing that they have never achieved is lasting peace for the North Rift region. In essence, therefore, such security operations have only managed to bring about a temporary absence of conflict, but not a lasting peace.

This brings me to two pertinent questions. First, does the government really know the causes of conflicts in the North Rift? Second, does the government believe that it has instituted the most appropriate responses to end the conflicts and bring about a permanent solution?

In this piece, we will make references to what the government has achieved in the far-flung Northern region that comprises Isiolo and Marsabit Counties over the last one-and-a-half decades.

I believe the lessons learnt in Isiolo and Marsabit counties can be useful in attempts to resolve conflicts in the North Rift.

First, a look at the fight over scarce pastures and water sources. The North Rift region is prone to frequent droughts. The farther one moves to the North towards Turkana, the worse the severity of droughts. The people's livelihood is almost exclusively dependent on livestock, which are reared effortlessly in the traditional way.

The situation is disproportionately severe the higher North one moves. What that means is that the Pokot and Turkana move their livestock downwards for pastures and water in Baringo, Elgeyo-Marakwet and Samburu areas. The Pokot people have a presence in Baringo County, and in fact, have Tiaty constituency to themselves within that county.

Practical solutions

How can the government deal with this matter? The first thing is to work with the communities to reduce over-stocking so as not to overstretch the carrying capacity of the land during drought situations. I can already foresee a major cultural challenge as far as reducing stock sizes is concerned. In these communities, stock size is a sign of wealth, and confers respectability.

The government will need to work with the communities and educate them on the dangers of overstocking, especially in drought situations. Gradually, they will embrace the idea of fewer livestock. Once the idea is accepted, the government through the Kenya Meat Commission can develop a programme of de-stocking, and utilize part of the sales of livestock to provide food to the communities to avert famine. The balance of the monies can be used to help the communities to re-stock once the droughts are gone. At the same time, more dams can be built in strategic areas to provide water for both domestic and livestock uses.

Furthermore, education has a way of inculcating progressive ideas. Had the expansion of education opportunities been a deliberate approach by the government since 1963, today we would not be talking about cattle rustling. But if people are left to their own designs, they will always seek survival tactics that make sense to them.

The magnitude of neglect of the North Rift region clearly undermines the legitimacy of the government to expect from these people any sense of civic responsibility. How does the government expect people who are deeply immersed in the cultural practices of their ancestors to behave like the rest of us who interact with government services on a daily basis?