Fishermen flee lake after raid
PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA Uasin Gishu deputy Governor Daniel Chemno (R) with Turkana Senator John Munyes, and Senator Zipporah Kittony and in Eldoret town on August 12, 2013. The untrained teachers were behind pregnancies among pupils, according to deputy Governor Daniel Chemno.
What you need to know:
- Peace talks have borne no fruit with 10 fishermen having been killed in less than two weeks
Hundreds of fishermen have fled Lake Turkana following attacks by suspected Ethiopian militia.
Peace negotiations between fishermen and pastoralists from the two countries have hit a stalemate due to the recent raids in which 10 Turkana fishermen have been killed and 11 fishing boats and nets stolen by the militia, according to Kibish district commissioner Eric Wanyonyi.
The attacks have disrupted commercial fishing.
Patrol the lake
“It is an act of aggression for the Ethiopian militia to stage the attacks inside Kenyan fishing territory. They need to restrain their people against such provocation,” said Mr Wanyonyi who led a security team to Todonyang’ after the Monday raid.
The Ethiopians are suspected to have encroached on 30 kilometres of Kenyan waters, harassing fishermen.
The government has deployed additional security personnel including the Kenya Marine Police to patrol the lake and contain armed conflict between the Turkana and the Merrile of Ethiopia.
Turkana leaders claim the raids are over land ownership between the two countries.
“The raids are no longer about fishing waters but also land. The Ethiopians want to take control of fish breeding zones in Lake Turkana and pasture for their animals,” claimed Mr Christopher Nakuleu, the Turkana North MP.
He asked the government to drive away Ethiopian herdsmen who have invaded Soya in the Elemi Triangle in search of pasture for their animals.
The attack comes weeks after Kenyan and Ethiopian surveyors successfully finalised fresh demarcation of a disputed part of the border around Lake Turkana.
