Ethnic clashes take regional angle

 

Houses that were torched in Wajir town on May 30 during inter-clan clashes. PHOTO | FILE 

In Summary

• The newspaper vendor found himself on the receiving end of the violence that has blurred the line between victim and offender, and underscored the problems ahead in ending ethnic clashes in north eastern Kenya.
• This wave of violence between the Degodia and the Gare in Mandera and Wajir counties left more than 50 people dead and thousands displaced last month alone.
• The latest round of fighting was triggered by the killing of three men from the Degodia clan by suspected Gares in Ogoralle, Wajir County, on May 13.

By Bertha Kang’ong’oi newsdesk@ke.nationmedia.com

A fortnight ago, Mr Abbey Korrow, a newspaper vendor in Wajir town, was at his newsstand outside Titanic Hotel when he received a distress call.

 

His sister-in-law told him that a group of men from the Degodia clan were setting houses of Gare clans people on fire and attacking anybody in sight in the Waberi neighbourhood where Korrow lives.

Mr Korrow dashed home and was welcomed by the sight of armed men chanting war songs, with thick smoke billowing from the houses that had been torched. Terrified women and children ran helter-skelter as they cried for help.

The attackers and Mr Korrow would naturally have become allies given their common Degodia background. However, the newspaper vendor found himself on the receiving end of the violence that has blurred the line between victim and offender, and underscored the problems ahead in ending ethnic clashes in north eastern Kenya.

“I was concerned about the plight of my Gare neighbours who have lived in our midst for years,” said Mr Korrow.

He was gripped with fear when he saw a group of angry Degodia men armed with knives, machetes, sticks and stones raid his home.

“The men said my crime was that I had married from the Gare clan, their perceived rivals in the ongoing clashes,” he said.

That day alone, the mob set more than 200 houses ablaze, added Mr Korrow.

“They wanted to burn my houses that I had put up after years of saving. I told them that they would do that over my dead body. After heated exchanges, they agreed to spare the houses but they looted everything inside, including spoons,” Mr Korrow explained.

About 500 metres away, 11 bodies of those killed on May 29 in Gunan village, Tarbaj constituency, were being buried.

The victims were from the Degodia clan. They were killed when suspected Gare clan militia raided their village and shot them.

This wave of violence between the Degodia and the Gare in Mandera and Wajir counties left more than 50 people dead and thousands displaced last month alone.

The latest round of fighting was triggered by the killing of three men from the Degodia clan by suspected Gares in Ogoralle, Wajir County, on May 13.

The three were clearing bushes on a road between Wajir and Mandera counties, authorities said.

The roadworks, funded by the Wajir county government, have been a source of controversy between the two clans. The Degodia claim the road does not extend into Mandera, while the Gare assert that it covers five kilometres into their ancestral land.

In retaliation, on May 15, gunmen from the Degodia clan ambushed a vehicle carrying some Gares, killing five people and injuring three others, according to Mandera County Police Commander Noah Mwivanda.

What followed have been tit-for-tat attacks in both counties, Mr Mwivanda explained, confirming that more than 50 people have been killed and dozens injured.

Mr Mwivanda said heavy weapons have been used in the clashes, adding that Wajir has been placed under an indefinite curfew to prevent the clashes from spreading.

Violence between the two clans have flared periodically since 1984. They have escalated in recent years, when drought sparked conflict over pasture land.

While the clashes have largely been blamed on disputes over water and pasture, the proliferation of firearms across the porous border with Somalia and Ethiopia has turned the violence into a regional security crisis.

Lately, the clans have used grenade launchers and armoured vehicles on their perceived clan rivals, said Mr Mwivanda.

Leaders have also been accused of stoking the animosity through inflammatory statements.

Mandera County Commissioner Michael Tialal said some of the leaders preach peace in public but fuel conflict behind the scenes in their struggle for political survival and relevance.

“When their popularity goes down, politicians instigate clashes and all of a sudden, their popularity rises,” said Mr Tialal, adding that the government was investigating some of the leaders with a view to prosecuting them. (Mtaani News)