Senators want probe into deadly conflict between farmers, camel herders in Kitui
Camels drink water. Senators now want police to investigate conflict in Kitui South constituency between farmers and camel herders over grazing land.
Senators now want the inspector general of police to open investigations into the deadly conflict in Kitui South constituency between farmers and camel herders over grazing land.
The conflict in Mutha area, which began in September, has left three people dead and two others injured.
The residents and area leaders have blamed the police for the ongoing conflict accusing them of fueling the clashes by allegedly protecting the herders and their camels from neighbouring Garissa County.
The chairperson of the Senate committee on National Security, Defence and Foreign Relations, Baringo Senator William Cheptumo, is now demanding investigations into the allegations and action taken against the officers.
Mr Cheptumo asked the inspector general of police to conduct thorough investigations into the matter with a view of ascertaining the veracity of the allegations.
“He (IG) must investigate the underlying reasons for the attacks and provide targeted interventions to resolve the conflict,” he said.
He said he will take up the matter with the Ministry of Interior to ensure the two police posts within the area have vehicles while pushing the National Police Service to increase its fuel ration to police command in the area to improve its response.
The committee was on a fact finding visit in the area to assess the security situation in the area following months of clashes.
This is after area Senator Enock Wambua demanded a statement from the Ministry of Interior on the cause of the conflict and requested the committee to visit the area to ascertain the level of response by the security apparatus at both county and national government.
The senator said the conflict has festered because the local security team has failed to act, thereby emboldening the herders.
The biting drought, considered the worst in the last 40 years, has not helped matters either as the herders lack pasture for their camels.
This has seen the herders invade farms and convert them into grazing fields triggering the conflict that has compromised the security situation in the area.
“The police and the provincial administration are not innocent bystanders in this conflict. They are accomplices,” said Mr Wambua.
Lamu Senator Joseph Kamau called for an immediate solution to the conflict to ensure the two communities live together in harmony.
Garissa Senator Abdul Haji commiserated with the families that had lost their loved ones during the conflict.
Daniel Mutinda, area resident, accused the police officers from the area and members of the provincial administration of fanning the conflict by protecting the camel herders after receiving bribes from the herders.
“It is an open secret that the herders' first port of call is the Mutha Police station where they bribe the officers in return for protection. The camels are then driven to the police station where they are protected and guarded by the officers,” he said during the Town Hall meeting.
He said while the police have failed to investigate the killing of the three farmers, believed to have been killed by the herders, the police vehicles have been used to ferry food to the herders in the jungles of Kitui South Game reserve where the herders hide.
Mr Mutinda’s comments were supported by the local community and area MCA Dominic Mwambisi who accused the police of advising the herders where to graze the animals with the assistant chief playing an intermediary.
“Once the camels exhaust pasture in one area, the assistant chief identifies another area and where the camels are moved to with police escort,” said Mr Mwambisi.
For his part, area police commander Leah Kithei told the committee action has been taken against officers who were linked to the allegations and have since been transferred.
Kitui County Commissioner Erastus Mbui said efforts to combat the conflict have been hampered by limited resources to patrol the area, appealing for intervention by the committee to salvage the situation.
