Three arrested in connection to Trans Mara clashes

Three people have been arrested in the clashes-prone Nkararo area in Trans Mara West sub county for allegedly fueling fresh tension in the area.

Narok County Commissioner Evans Achoki, who confirmed the arrests, on Friday, revealed an incident in which unknown people pelted stones at a house belonging to members of the Siria clan, sparking fresh tension.

Speaking in his office, Mr Achoki said contingents of security personnel have been deployed to restore calm in the area that has witness recurrent violence.

“Some unknown people pelted stones at some houses of the neighbouring Siria clan. As a result, some locals armed themselves thinking it was a trigger to fresh fighting,” said Mr Achoki.  

Two Maasai clans, Siria and Uasin Ngishu have been conflicting over a 30-acres piece of land between two of the adjudication sections, that led the government to establish a road as a boundary between the two regions.

The Trans Mara intra-border dispute, which has left dozens dead and hundreds maimed, has been going on since 1956, according to government records.

Perennial clashes

The Nkararo section (on the Siria clan side) was declared an adjudication section in 1985 had 1200 parcels of land, but the owners were never issued with title deeds and has become a source of conflict with the Enoosaen section (Iruasi Ngishu). 

For more than five decades, the area has been hit by perennial clashes over land boundaries.

In April last year, the government was forced to impose a 4pm to 7am curfew after following a series of killings in the area that left tens of people injured and several houses torched.

The incidents forced the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) to join the local security committees to camp in the area in an effort to broker peace between the two clans. 

Rift Valley Regional Commissioner George Natembeya lifted the curfew four months later after area residents pledged to end the animosity.

Feuding clans

Trans Mara west Deputy County Commissioner Mohamed Noor said the two groups have been feuding for a long time but for the last one year the government tackled the problem and there has been peaceful coexistence and the Thursday issue should be treated as an isolated case. 

Mr Noor said the government had demarcated the border and the state put up a new road that will act as the boundary for the two communities calling on the residents for a status quo to be maintained until a government exercise to process title deeds for the Nkararo section which is underway to be completed. 

However, Mr Achoki called on the residents to use the 20 elders appointed from both clans in the community to resolve disputes that arise amongst the residents instead of causing tension.

“We have 10 elders from each clan who were appointed to help in maintaining peace in the volatile area. I call upon residents to consult them in cases of fear instead of causing tension to the whole community,” said Mr Achoki.

The County Commissioner reiterated that the government is in the process of issuing title deeds in the area that will help solve the dispute since the Uasin Ngishu have title deeds while the Siria have not been issued with title deeds.

“Once the title deeds are issued, we will continuously engage the residents on programmes that will help boost peaceful coexistence between the two clans that live in the area,” said the county commissioner.

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