Why always us? Marsabit governor asks on elusive peace in North

It was a tragedy that left four constituencies in the former Marsabit and Moyale districts without lawmakers on April 10, 2006.
Bonaya Godana (North Horr), Abdi Sasura (Saku), Titus Ngoyoni (Laisamis) and Guracha Galgallo (Moyale) perished in a military aeroplane crash.

The accident also claimed the lives of Internal Security assistant minister Mirugi Kariuki, East Africa Legislative Assembly member Abdulahi Adan, Moyale district commissioner Peter Kingola, Anglican Bishop for Kirinyaga Diocese William Waqo and six others while on a peace mission.

Some 14 people perished.

But that peace they were trying to explore remains elusive to date.

Shootings and theft of livestock are common occurrences. Last Monday evening, two pupils of Little Angels were ambushed by unknown assailants and shot dead at point-blank range while being picked up from school by a motorcyclist.

In the last month, there has been a spike in ethnic tensions, cattle rustling, loss of lives and livelihoods as well in Marsabit Central sub-county alone.

More than 18 people have been killed brutally by armed assailants, with no arrests.

Peace obstacles

What has been the obstacle to peace in Marsabit? The county continues to experience armed conflicts despite repeated operations by the government to seize illegal guns and flush out bandits.

The conflicts have always been assumed to be sporadic incidents over pasture typical of nomadic communities as a culmination of several resource-based conflicts that had reached a tipping point due to ethnic and political motivations.

Peace treaties signed over the years have also failed to deliver long-lasting peace.

Marsabit County Commissioner Paul Rotich warned locals against glorifying violence and killings.

“The day all leaders and residents of this county stand up against the spirit of glorifying violence, that’s when true peace and harmony will be restored in this county,” he said.

A few criminal elements, he said, continued tarnishing the county’s reputation on security.

Mr Rotich challenged other sane locals to stop concealing criminals as the only way of redeeming the entire region’s value.

Security agencies, he said, cannot win against the endemic ethnic clashes and culture of violence at a remotely acceptable cost while local communities were themselves abetting the perpetual bloodshed by protecting criminals.

The glorification of violence and endless killings across a wide range of the Marsabit population is becoming a major concern even among donors and peacekeeping actors who have for years invested heavily in restoring peace and cohesion in the region.

Marsabit Governor Mohamud Ali, for his part, expressed concerns that over the last three years, many resources have been used to end violent extremism in the county in vain.

Billions of shillings have been spent by different donors such as the United Nations Development Programme, Intergovernmental Authority on Development and African Union with little success.

“A lot of resources are going down the drain in efforts to restore harmony in this county in vain,” Governor Ali lamented.

He held that the situation in the county represented fatigue of sorts among peacekeeping actors because all the series of missions undertaken across the county seemed not to be producing positive results.

But he maintained that they would still give conciliation among the feuding groups and de-escalation of the conflicts their best shot until desirable results are achieved.

The crime rate in Marsabit is at its peak. Several brutal crimes such as murder have become commonplace, a large number of people are internally displaced, and the quality of life of the people is also at its worst.

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