Politicians put on spot as clashes between two Maasai clans escalate
Some of the weapons police seized in a security operation in Trans Mara in 2017. FILE PHOTO | COURTESY
What you need to know:
On Sunday, more than 30 people sustained arrow inflicted wounds following renewed inter-clan fighting.
They are recuperating in various hospitals in Bomet, Kisii, Narok and Migori counties.
GSU officers and Administration Police have been patrolling the region but tension is still high.
Politicians have been put on the spot for fuelling clashes between two Maasai clans at the Enoororet-Nkararo boundary in Trans Mara, leading to deaths, injuries and untold suffering among locals.
A four-hour meeting attended by security officers, elders, chiefs and their assistants and ward reps from the affected region on Tuesday resolved to have the politicians arrested and charged with incitement.
PROLONGED DISPUTE
The meeting headed by Narok County Commissioner Samuel Kimiti came up with a 15-point resolutions, which stakeholders believe will help end the skirmishes.
The Nkararo-Enooretet boundary has been the source of dispute between Siria and Uasin Gishu clans for decades.
On Sunday, more than 30 people sustained arrow inflicted wounds following renewed inter-clan fighting. They are recuperating in various hospitals in Bomet, Kisii, Narok and Migori counties.
The Tuesday meeting held at the Kilgoris CDF Hall also resolved to have a General Service Unit camp at the hotspot area.
“We will have a GSU camp in the volatile area,” said Mr Kimiti.
GSU officers and Administration Police have been patrolling the region but tension is still high.
Notably, many men have fled their homes, leaving women and children behind. Learning has been affected, with students being escorted by officers to schools.
The busy Nkararo trading centre has been deserted.
A four-kilometre boundary set up by the government about three weeks ago to separate the two clans seems to have been an exercise in futility, with officials now being forced to go back to the drawing board.
Locals who spoke to Nation said the dispute, which started way back in 1976, will not be solved by a road separating the two clans.
“We have not been told how a person who owns land on both sides of the road will be required to conduct him/herself,” said one of the elders.
But Mr Kimiti said they had taken into account the concern and asked land officials to compute details of locals whose land has been affected as they deliberate on how to handle the issue best.
Though elders from both clans had been invited to the Tuesday meeting, one clan boycotted.
