Long dry spells turn boys in remote Tiaty villages into bandits

Akoma (not his real name) enrolled for pre-primary classes in 2010 when he was 10 years old, not because his parents wanted him to get an education but because they had been compelled by the chief to take their herder-children to school.

He had been herding livestock with her four siblings, as tradition requires of every young boy in the remote villages of Tiaty sub-county.

But learning was not easy for Akoma.

With few schools in the region, he had to trek more than 15km every day to a makeshift early childhood education centre at the foot of the Paka Hills, sometimes on an empty stomach.

No food in school

There was no school feeding programme either, and many of the few children who attended classes there dropped out.

But Akoma endured two years of learning under the harsh conditions – scorching sun, hunger, long-distance treks, and sometimes the lone teacher at the centre did not show up.

At 12 years old, he had to proceed to Standard One, but the school only accommodated pre-primary learners. He needed to go to either Katundura, Naudo or Riong’o primary schools, more than 20km away.

He decided to quit school and resume his former duties of herding animals with his peers. He was fed up with the challenges associated with learning. Sometimes he lacked basic necessities like books and pencils.

“Schooling for me was a torture because I could walk through the thick bushes for tens of kilometres under the scorching sun and the rough terrain,” he said.

“To worsen the situation, I needed to enrol in class one at a different school that was far away. I resorted to going back to herding.”

Sophisticated firearms

At 22 now, he has honed the skills of using sophisticated firearms owing to the nature of his work as herder. He said he needed to protect the animals from being stolen by thieves from a neighbouring community while he was looking for water and pasture further afield.

Akoma’s life reflects what thousands of other children endure in the remote villages of Tiaty to get an education. Most who cannot brave the challenges drop out of school, becoming herders who are later recruited into banditry.

The Nation has learnt that most of the armed cattle raiders are uneducated and a majority of them are groomed for the ‘work’ at a tender age.

For instance, illiterate herdboys are trained at an early age to defend themselves. They are separated from their mothers when they are as young as seven years and taken to herding camps, where they are subjected to hardships. To survive in such conditions, the boys must become sharp and hardy.

High illiteracy levels

Illiteracy levels in Tiaty East and Tiaty West sub-counties are still high. When parents are forced to take their children to school, they expect the government to provide them with virtually everything, including uniforms, books and other basics.

“Parents in this community are very illiterate to the extent they are wooed to bring their children to school,” said Collins Kases, the headteacher at Riong’o Primary School.

“The moment you request a child to bring some learning materials from home, they see it as a burden and the responsibility of the teacher or the chief. They even resort to pulling the learner out of school and sending him to herd livestock instead.”

Drought, he said, also forces parents to migrate with their school-going children to other areas, reducing enrolment and undermining retention. Once they move, he added, a large number of them never report back when normality returns, with girls married off and boys becoming herders.

Yuda Losutan, an elder from Nginyang’ in Tiaty West, said the scarcity of schools, a shortage of teachers and high illiteracy levels among parents have pushed thousands of children to drop out of school.

“With no basic education and religion, what do you think young boys engage in while in the bushes herding?” Mr Losutan said.

“With their nomadic nature, most of the time, especially during dry spells, they must move from one place to another in search of water and pasture for their livestock, even to a neighbouring country.

Recruited into banditry

“To protect their herds from other communities, they arm themselves. A 10-year-old boy, especially those who did not step in a school, are very skilled in using sophisticated firearms because that is what they do in the bushes during their free time, and in no time, they are gradually recruited into banditry.”

The only way to eradicate perennial livestock theft and banditry, he said, is through forcible schooling.

“Children who have acquired an education will not engage in banditry,” he said.

“You find that such archaic practices are still rife in far-flung villages where there are few or no schools because that is the only thing the children can identify themselves with since childhood.

“If the government is serious about weeding out the vice, then they should build more boarding schools to boost enrolment and retention and minimise migration, especially during dry spells when many schoolchildren drop out.”

Julius Akeno, an elder and author from the region, said high illiteracy levels have contributed to perennial stock thefts in the North Rift region, with locals in remote villages still valuing livestock keeping as their livelihood.

“Lack of education is a major factor in the age-old bandit attacks in this region,” Mr Akeno said.

Alternative livelihood

“Somebody who has gone to school will have a broad mind and will see other opportunities for an alternative livelihood, but in Tiaty, for instance, most locals don’t see a life beyond livestock and some will go as far as raiding other communities to increase the numbers.”

He added: “Illiterate young boys will take the risks, including putting their lives at stake to raid another community in the name of livestock.

“If these boys went to school, they could get exposure and see life from another perspective. Sadly, the few who go to school end up dropping out due to several challenges and are recruited into banditry.”

The author of Patrons of Wild Suguta Valley says bandits get their skills from herding and boys as young as eight are given the responsibility of taking livestock further afield for a long period.

“Young boys in the Pokot community are separated from their mothers as early as eight years old and given the responsibility of looking after livestock. They normally go far away from their homes, for example, Kapedo, Napeitom, Paka, Silale, Naudo Kapedo, Kasarani and Ng’elecha hills, especially during dry seasons,” Mr Akeno said.

Social misfits

“During such periods, it is mandatory for herders who take the livestock to be armed to protect the cows from being stolen by other neighbouring communities. They also become social misfits because they have been separated from the community for a long time, which can be several years.”

They only visit to take some essentials they need from their parents, who are left with goats and camels. It is in these grazing areas that bandits become the decision-makers, and because they have guns, they organise themselves for raids without their parents knowing about it.

Most parents come to know about their children's actions when they are either killed or the animals are traced to the parents’ herds in the grazing fields.

Politicians

Mr Akeno also blamed banditry on former political leaders who urged their communities to arm themselves against their neighbours, leading to the proliferation of sophisticated automatic rifles such as the AK-47 and G3.

For example, he cited James Kalegeno, who was MP from 1975 to 1979, at the start of President Daniel Moi’s reign.

Mr Akeno said that as MP, Mr Kalegeno forced a modern lifestyle on the Pokot, forcefully rounding up children and taking them to school. Some families had to migrate to keep their children from being taken to school.

He also forced young men to cut off their beautiful blue head gear and wash themselves clean. He then made them part of his youth wing – at his service.

“The guy was a tyrant. Because of that, he acquired many names – Eburu, Ropet, Long’esakong, Lopurkong (Red Eye), Simba ya Jangwani, among many,” Mr Akeno.

Ng’oroko bandits

He said Turkana raids increased during his reign. Under the infamous Ng’oroko bandits that were believed to be connected to a powerful Rift Valley police provincial boss, they raided the Pokot community nearly every week and killed many people.

“It was at this time that the MP abandoned development and resorted to “Kepe lot” (let us go back), meaning that the Pokot were to sell their remaining livestock and suspend everything to buy guns and defend themselves. People acquired guns and the fighting escalated and became bloodier,” he said.

A chief from the Kerio Valley, who sought anonymity for fear of victimisation, blamed illiteracy for banditry, noting that the only solution is forcible schooling.

“Most children here drop out of school as early as class three due to the challenges. We recently started an initiative called 'operation back to school' but it has been hampered by the long dry spell that has forced parents to move with their children to other areas in search of water and pasture for their livestock,” the chief said.

They work with village elders to identify children who have not joined school.

Drought

“If not for the drought, we would have made some strides. We will continue with the exercise until we ensure that all children who are herding animals in villages are enrolled in school and I am very sure cases of banditry will reduce,” he added.

Teacher shortages, lack of school-based feeding programmes, the long distances children have to walk to attend classes and drought force the schools to open and close regularly.

Remote Nasorot Primary School, for instance, has less than 20 ECDE learners taught by a volunteer, with the numbers decreasing each day.

Some of the primary schools that have never had candidates for three decades since they opened are Akwichatis, Naudo, Riong’o, Donyasas, Nasorot, Chesiriomion, Katungura, Nalekat, Toplen, Kongor and Sukut.

Statistics for 2019 from the National Council for Population and Development show that more than 75 per cent of children in Tiaty East and 77 per cent in Tiaty West have never been to school.

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