Clan rivalry and politics spark killings in region neglected since independence

Competition for political positions in Mandera County has triggered long-standing conflict between two rival clans, threatening to turn this northern region into a killing field.

Since the election campaigns in March, a month hardly goes by without people being killed in clashes between Garre and Degodia clans.

The two have been fighting over political dominance in the county where Garres swept most of the seats during the elections.

The Degodias did not capture any big seat, and they are now accusing their rivals of marginalising them and threatening to push them out of the county.

They will push us out

“The Garres have told us on the face that they will push us out of Mandera to Wajir and Ethiopia where most of our kin live,” Degodia council of elders chairman in the county Adow Harun asserts.

Garre elders, on the hand, dismiss Mr Harun’s claims as idle talk, saying, the Degodias are making the allegations against them after realising they don’t have the numbers to win any big political seat in the county.

“One of the demands they have is for us to surrender the Mandera North parliamentary seat and two other county representatives positions to them so that they stop feeling marginalised,” the chairman of the Garre Council of elders, Mr Yusuf Ibrahim says.

Both Mr Harun and Mr Ibrahim have been sitting together in meetings convened by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) to resolve the conflict that has so far claimed 39 lives.

NCIC’s head of reconciliation and integration Guyo Liban says resolving the conflict is proving to be an uphill task.

“There is a lot of mistrust and hatred between the two clans and since they have access to small arms and light weapons due to their proximity to Somalia and Ethiopia, the conflict has become complex,” Mr Liban told Nation in Mandera where he had led a team from NCIC on a fact-finding mission.

The conflict between the Garre and the Degodia has been in existence for years. They have been at each other’s throats over allocation of land in Rhamu, the Mandera North District headquarters.

Land in the area is productive, thanks to the Dawa River that cuts across Mandera from Ethiopia. The land was allocated during the Kanu regime to different clans and families.

Garres who claim to be the original inhabitants of the area, used to fault retired President Moi, saying, he favoured Degodias whose population is concentrated in neighbouring Wajir County.

Political deal

During the Jomo Kenyatta era, Garres under the leadership of the then Mandera East MP, Mr Mohammed Amin, used to enjoy more privileges than the other communities in North Eastern province.

This is because Mr Amin, then an assistant minister, was a close ally of the first president. But when Mr Moi took over in 1978, he sought political allies from the Degodia and the Ogaden clan of Garissa County.

“Garres felt isolated and marginalised especially when the new Moi government failed to complete tarmacking Elwak-Mandera Road that had been started by his predecessor,” recalls Ahmed Sheikh, an executive committee member in charge of Public Service, Conflict Resolution, Cohesion and Integration at the county government. These are some of the underlying factors of the conflict that exploded into war after the 2007 General Election.

During this time, Mr Abdikadir Mohammed, a Degodia, won the elections in Mandera Central, beating his closest rival Billow Kerrow. Mr Kerrow is a Garre and his community had fielded another candidate.

In the March elections, Garres were cautious against losing in all the Mandera county parliamentary races.

The county has six constituencies — Mandera North, Mandera South, Takaba, Banisa, Mandera East and Lafey.

But it is in Mandera North where a big population of the Degodia clan dwells. They could not win any seat after Garres fielded single candidates.

In Mandera East and Lafey constituencies Garres entered into an alliance with members of Murulle clan, who are a minority in the county to beat the Degodias.

And since they are the majority in the county, Garres easily won other seats of senate, governor and women’s representative.

The Degodias only managed five seats out of the 30 in the County Assembly, which has seen them earn only two executive committee positions in the devolved government.

Garres have four while Murulles have two. Small clans have been allocated the other two.

During the campaign period, tension was mounting despite the two clans being in the Jubilee Coalition. Garres were in the United Republican Party (URP), while Degodias were in The National Alliance party (TNA).

Simmering tensions exploded into open warfare three days to the elections.

A prominent Degodia businessman in Rhamu Town, Mr Haji Jele was knocked down by a vehicle belonging to the then senate candidate, Billow Kerrow, as he was coming from a campaign rally.

Burnt houses

He died on the spot in the accident that immediately sparked war. The Degodias overran houses belonging to Garres, setting them on fire. Garres, on the other hand, revenged and also burnt houses belonging to their rivals.

A number of people were killed from both sides.

Degodia elders thought the accident was a deliberate move, but police said TNA supporters pelted Mr Kerrow’s vehicles with stones, leading to the crash.

The driver has since been charged with the offence.