President William Ruto when he attended the Turkana Cultural and Tourism Festival in Lodwar town in October.
An ongoing push to have three senior professionals from Turkana County appointed in President William Ruto’s government and his busy itinerary are the main reasons why the much-hyped ‘Tobong'u Lore annual tourism and cultural festival’ was postponed at the 11th hour.
Turkana Governor Jeremiah Lomorukai has linked the postponement of the 51st Lokiriama Peace Accord and eighth Turkana Cultural and Tourism Festival locally and popularly known as the Tobong'u Lore annual festival to the lobbying for the State jobs.
The last minute suspension of the event has left locals, peace actors, leaders, and stakeholders in the hospitality and logistic sectors confused.
Nation. Africa has established that there is a push to have former Petroleum Cabinet Secretary John Munyes, former Turkana Central MP John Lodepe, and a Turkana professional Daniel Losiru appointed to positions within President Ruto’s government, and this significantly altered this year’s schedule of the festival.
The renowned tourism and cultural festival was first slated for August 27-30 before being pushed to September 24-27 when it was once again postponed indefinitely.
A letter from the office of the Governor dated September 16, 2024, on the postponement of the cultural and tourism festival informed all partners within the country and across its borders that the events were postponed due to inevitable circumstances.
New dates are yet to be officially communicated.
It has since emerged that on the dates when the festival was supposed to be happening, Governor Lomorukai was with President Ruto in New York, United States for the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (Unga) , a significant global forum that brings together world leaders to address critical international issues, with focus on sustainable development, global governance and climate focus.
According to Mr Lomorukai, the President's itinerary and the impending appointments will determine the festival dates.
"We postponed Tobong'u lore because the President is yet to employ the three. I was in New York with the President and he promised to fulfill the promise before he came to the festival. He has also been having an ever-changing itinerary,” the Turkana governor said.
The Lokiriama Peace Accord and the eighth Turkana Cultural and Tourism Festival provide an opportunity for the county to market existing tourism attraction sites like the Nariokotome archaeological site where the Turkana Boy, the fossil skeletal remains of a 1.6-million-year-old pre-modern human was discovered in 1984 and Central Island National Park in Lake Turkana.
Pastoral communities from Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, and South Sudan are also key stakeholders who bank on such festivals to integrate and push for the development of borderlands that have lagged in development and civilisation.
Stakeholders affected
Key stakeholders, including hoteliers, tourists, tour and travel operators, and logistic partners were the most hit by the confusion resulting from the rescheduling.
Turkana County Assembly Speaker Christopher Nakuleu said that Mr Lodepe who was the United Democratic Alliance gubernatorial candidate has been in the cold for over two years forcing him to embark on the role of ordaining upcoming religious leaders.
Turkana residents bank on the Tobong'u lore festival to boost their businesses especially the hospitality and logistics sectors and dealers in traditional regalia.
"As hoteliers, we are running losses because we had many bookings based on the earlier dates, but now that we have no idea when it will happen this has left us confused," said Quanam Woods Hotel owner Dr Malcolm Lochodo.
The county boss, however, cautioned against postponing the festival.
Activist Joseph Egelan maintained that despite political influence, the President should ensure that Lodwar Town shifts from the current unsustainable fossil fuel energy generation to renewable energy sources to curb negative externalities such as pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
He recalled President Ruto’s promise to spend Sh800 million on the integration of Lodwar Town into the national grid within 15 months.
"We expected that when Dr Ruto comes again during this year's Turkana Cultural and Tourism festival, the project would be nearing completion. But as it is, it is farfetched. He had promised that the power connectivity would be extended from Lokichar to Lodwar and Lake Turkana," he said.
He was optimistic that Dr Ruto who inaugurated the Turkana University College in 2017 as Deputy President will in October award it a charter during the eighth edition of the Turkana Cultural and Tourism Festival.
The elevation of the university is expected to boost enrollment and contribute to the economic development of the town.
Loima MP Protus Akuja whose constituency was to host delegations of pastoral communities from Uganda, Ethiopia, and South Sudan said that the decision to postpone the peace accord celebration impacted negatively the communities who have been having a routine of celebrating peace in that corridor.
He said that border locals especially those who had been mobilised were confused as no clear reasons were communicated.
"For two years running the event has never been marked. It may be perceived that some people are out to undermine the peace accord a situation that can be an advent of conflict. I learned through social media that it was postponed, and many people are demoralised especially groups from neighbouring countries," Mr Akuja said.
He said that postponement was a big challenge to relevant actors who must be given valid reasons for the sudden move. "If resources are a challenge other actors can chip in because when the event used to be structured, it was being supported by development partners like International Organisation for Migration and United Nations agencies.
He said that the border communities would have capitalised on the celebrations to address the latest incidents of insecurity that include a gang of bandits who were terrorising residents of major centers within Loima sub-County and renewed bandit attacks at Loya center in Turkana County and Naoyapong in West Pokot where bandits are targeting traders.
Pastoral communities living along the border of Kenya and Uganda were optimistic about marking the United Nations' International Day of Peace on September 21 by celebrating and renewing a peace agreement sealed in 1973 to cement peaceful coexistence and enhance cross-border trading activities.
According to them, the Lokiriama Peace Accord that was negotiated by elders from Turkana and Matheniko communities border communities is still a significant gesture of peace as they committed to end hostilities by burying all weapons that they were using to fight.
"By celebrating the agreement on a globally recognised day of peace, it would have attracted all peace actors from the two countries and workable solutions emulated along our borders with South Sudan and Ethiopia. It would have also attracted key government agencies that will outline measures to eliminate illegal firearms that facilitate conflicts in all corridors," Mr James Ekiru, a reformed warrior from Turkana said.
