10 houses torched in renewed Trans Mara clashes

Residents of Masare Village on the Trans Mara East-Trans Mara West border in Narok County during a peace meeting on September 13, 2016. FILE PHOTO | RUTH MBULA |

What you need to know:

  • He blamed the violence to robbery incidents in the area that have claimed the lives of two men from one of the communities.
  • They urged the youth to stop fighting and allow room for government agencies to resolve their problems.

At least 10 houses have been torched at Esoit on the Trans Mara West-Trans Mara East border in renewed fighting between the Kipsigis and Maasai communities.

Trans Mara West Deputy County Commissioner Mericho Maina said the houses were set ablaze as the two communities fought on Tuesday and Wednesday night.

He blamed the violence to robbery incidents in the area that have claimed the lives of two men from one of the communities.

The two succumbed to gunshot wounds after the attack last week. The attacks are said to have been fuelled by illegal firearms in the area.

Mr Maina said a land tussle between the two communities and cattle rustling are also fuelling the fighting.

“They are accusing each other of being responsible for the cattle theft [incidents]. But we have deployed enough security and we will bring the situation to normalcy,” he said.

On Wednesday, Narok Governor Samuel Tunai and Emurua Dikirr MP Johana Ng’eno evacuated over 1,000 people from the Kipsigis community who had been affected by the clashes.

Mr Tunai and Mr Ng’eno sent buses to help ferry the affected families in Emurua Dikirr constituency and Angata Barrikkoi in Kilgoris constituency.

They both reiterated the need for the two communities to co-exist peacefully, saying the underlying issues should be solved amicably.

They urged the youth to stop fighting and allow room for government agencies to resolve their problems.