EU Takes Poverty Alleviation Route to End Decades-Old Conflict

from All Africa

The Nation (Nairobi)

NEWS
2 November 2007
Posted to the web 1 November 2007

By Kennedy Masibo
Nairobi

The conflict between the Njemps and the Pokot communities in the larger Baringo District might soon be over.

This follows the putting in place of a new strategy to promote peace in the area.

Some Sh21,580,994 has been donated by the European Union (EU) towards programmes that will reduce conflict arising from use of natural resources.


More than 40 people have so far been killed in incidents related to cattle rustling and other criminal activities.

Several members of the Njemps community have fled their homes for fear of attacks.

The EU, through the Community Development Trust Fund (CDTF), has given the money to Ruko Conservation Group that comprises members of the two communities.

Mr Joseph Ruhiu of CDTF said the programmes introduced in the area would be joint ventures of the Government and the EU. The focus will be poverty alleviation.

Mr Ruhiu said the conflict revolved around pasture. This could be addressed if the communities were involved in income generating activities.

Hides and skins

Income generating activities include sale of hides and skins, bee-keeping and creation of a common conservancy.

"The communities will be expected to contribute towards promotion of local tourism," he said.

They will also be expected to promote peace by using various natural resources in the area.

Mr Ruhiu said the initiative would promote peaceful coexistence. Also to be promoted are socio-economic activities.

The group in charge of the initiative will be mandated to give priority to any project considered viable.

The Baringo county council has also endorsed the project and will support it.

The Baringo East district commissioner, Mr Mutuka Mwenga, welcomed the initiative.

The programme will also address the causes of siltation in Lake Baringo and tackle water management.

Reverse the trend

According to the study, the Lake Baringo neighbourhood is degraded and the conservation group will have the opportunity to reverse the trend.

Overgrazing in the areas next to the lake has led to the siltation.

Mr Ruhiu was confident that after the three-year project was concluded, there would be harmony as various economic ventures would have taken off.

He said young men, who used to engage in cattle rustling and criminal acts, would be involved in wildlife protection and other gainful ventures.

One of the burning issues, according to him, was the high rate of literacy. Ninety eight per cent of the population is illiterate.

The issue, Mr Ruhiu said, had to be addressed.

With frequent interaction of the members of the two communities, harmonious working relation will be cemented.

Mr Ruhiu said such initiatives should be applied in other areas with similar conflicts.

The Baringo branch of the Kenya National Union of Teachers is supportive of the initiative and wants to be incorporated in it.

Branch executive secretary Charles Kamuren said that teachers played a crucial role in peace building.

Frequent raids

"They know parents and their children. Therefore, they can influence behavioural and attitude change," he said.

Mr Kamuren said during the raids, particularly in Makutani and Marigat divisions, a number of schools are closed.

The initiative should involve teachers, he said, noting that already Knut had started a peace-building process.

Mr Kamuren said students and pupils on a number of occasions were requested to write essays on the cause of insecurity and the remedies.

He said students were also taught about retrogressive cultures that should be discarded.

The students are then used as peace ambassadors in the village and deliver peace messages.

The Knut official said that for the various programmes to succeed and be sustained, the officials appointed to various committees should be transparent and effective.

He suggested that leadership should be given to the youths, who have a vision to sustain peace and enhance development.

Decisive action

Mr Thomas Lentangule, a lawyer from Njemps community, says there have been many raids in the past two years.

"At one time, eight primary schools were closed and houses of innocent people destroyed," he said.

He claimed that 1,000 head of cattle had so far been stolen from the Njemps.

The cattle rustling, he said, had affected the economic activities of the people and disrupted their livelihoods.

Mr Lentangule blamed the Government for not taking decisive action when such attacks happen.

"Sometimes the security personnel are deployed for a short time and when normalcy returns, they are withdrawn only for the raiders to strike again."

He also blamed some retrogressive cultures among the conflicting communities, for encouraging cattle rustling.

Creation of conservancy

The lawyer appealed to the Government to disarm warriors in the two communities.

He called for the creation of conservancy such as the one in Laikipia that will encourage ecotourism.

Outgoing Baringo East MP and assistant minister Asman Kamama welcomed the initiative by the EU.

He said more well-wishers should support the initiative, taking into account that the two communities live in abject poverty.

Mr Kamama said that in the last five years, more boreholes had been dug for the pastoralists.

Members of the Pokot and Njemps communities during a peace-building function.