Patrols to be introduced in Kilifi to ease tension over grazing land

Daily security patrols will be introduced in Ganze where tension between locals and Somali herders is building up over grazing lands dispute.

There are currently more than 5,000 animals in the region.

Kilifi OCPD Alexander Makau said on Wednesday the patrols are meant to enhance security in Bamba division, where villagers have insisted that the herders must leave with their animals.

Ganze sub-county's security team held a baraza with locals, which was attended by Deputy County Commissioner Wilson Saaya, to reconcile the communities.

Residents who spoke said the area would be safer without the herders.

Since the beginning of the year, tension has been growing in the area which borders Tsavo East National Park after some of the locals threatened to chase the herders away claiming their animals had destroyed their farms and were a menace.

To address the issue Mr Makau said: “We are going to introduce daily security patrols to make sure that both the herders and the locals live in harmony. We want to make sure there is peace in that region and that the locals should only follow laid down procedures to address their challenges”.

“The locals are claiming that the number of herders they first allowed to graze in 2013 was small, but they have kept on increasing. We want to vet them so that we can know the genuine ones,” the police boss said.

Mr Gola Karisa, a resident, said the community welcomed the herders with the agreement that part of the payments from leasing the land were to go towards development.

But chiefs started to engage the herders directly.

BY RESIDENTS

Shirango village elder Barisa Hiyesa from the Wartha community said the problem was caused by residents, who he claimed are engaged in bitter disputes over the payments.

“Locals are not speaking in one voice. Those who are able to fend for their families want these herders removed, but those who have leased their land and get some cash to feed their families want them to stay. That is the problem,” said Mr Hiyesa.

One of the herders, Mr Adam Gedi, said the locals but not pastoralists were having differences.

“We pay Sh80,000 monthly to the committee, but it is the locals themselves now fighting each other hurting our stay,” he said.

Some locals accused the committee of incompetence with elders being the sole beneficiaries of the Sh80,000 monthly payments.

On Monday, Mr Saaya’s team dissolved the Gede village committee and gave two months for the formation of new one.

Bamba ward representative Daniel Mangi speaking in Kilifi town accused the administration of siding with the herders.

“The locals want the issue to be well addressed and an amicable solution arrived at,” he said.

Meanwhile, the government has launched a series of peace meetings in Garsen sub-county, Tana River County, to defuse tension between herders and local.

Deputy County Commissioner Mike Kimoko said an unprecedented influx of cattle from Garissa and Ijara had caused the tension in the Tana Delta.