County boundaries row blamed for latest attack

Monday’s killing of at least 54 people in attacks and reprisals between two pastoralist communities in Turkana and Baringo counties have brought to the fore the sharp rise in insecurity in the North Rift region.

The Kenya Red Cross Society yesterday reported on its Twitter handle that 54 people had died, while five others were in critical condition and had been evacuated to hospital after they sustained serious injuries during the ethnic violence.

The tweet by the Red Cross confirmed Tuesday’s report by the Daily Nation that 46 people had been killed in the violence and put the police on the spot for claiming that security officers “had seen no bodies” despite flying to the violence-hit Nadome area on the boundary of the two counties.

Mr Peter Pamba, the senior Administration Police officer who was leading a security operation in the area had told the Daily Nation that his team had gone to the scene of the fighting and found no bodies.

Yesterday, however, Red Cross personnel and Nation reporters reached the remote village locked away from civilisation by pathetic roads and rough terrain, only to find decomposing bodies of victims, included children and pregnant women. They also found seven survivors, five of whom were seriously injured.

The Red Cross workers had carried body bags but could not use them because they had no way of moving the bodies due to the lack of roads in the area.

The nearest dispensary is the Akwichatis Health Centre — which is more than 60 kilometres from Nadome.

“There are no security personnel in this area. The only station is a General Service Unit (GSU) camp at Nginy’ang,” said Mr David Arupe, the assistant chief for Naudo village, who helped the Nation team to reach the village where the 54 were massacred.

“Even if we opt to take the bodies to a mortuary, how will we transport the 54 when roads are impassable?” he asked.

Communities in the hostile region routinely move to new dwellings after attacks, leaving the bodies of victims to be eaten by wild animals.

In recent months, parts of North Rift, stretching from Baringo in the south, through Samburu and West Pokot and Turkana in the north, have been hard hit by bandits attacks in which civilians and security officers have been killed.

Last month, for instance, Lorogon village, which lies on the boundaries of Turkana and West Pokot counties had been under siege from bandits for five days before police officers from both counties coordinated and unblocked the Turkwel-Lorogon road, ending the siege.

The siege had been triggered by the killing of two Kenya Police Reservists by suspected raiders from Turkana County. The reservists were shot dead in an ambush while on patrol at the Turkwel power station. The officers who ended the siege were drawn from the Anti-Stock Theft, the General Service and Administration Police units.

A few weeks earlier, four people were killed and six others seriously injured in a raid on the same village. The attackers, believed to be from neighbouring Pokot County, surrounded the village and held the more than 500 villagers hostage. According to those who survived the attack, the raiders had claimed ownership of the land on which the village is built.

Turkana County Kenya Red Cross Manager Kennedy Mulama said survivors of the attack were in urgent need of food and other supplies. He and his team distributed food to the affected and promised to continue doing so until the situation returns to normal.

Villagers, led by Mr David Lochuch, said that the number of deaths from the latest attacks could have been higher had the attackers learnt that the villagers had run out of bullets.

“Whenever we run out of ammunition, the only option is always to transfer women and children at night to much safer places,” said Mr Lochuch, a teacher at Lorogon Primary School who also doubles up as a police reservist.

Women lamented that they could not venture to water points or fetch firewood for fear of fresh attacks. Their children were also missing out on learning after Lorogon Primary School sent them home over security fears.

Mrs Priscilla Akiru, a villager, said the intention of the bandits was to displace them and take over the village as they had done with 20 others, whose names have since been changed.

“I used to know Lokankapei (Kasses) and Kangilogitea (Takaiwa) as villages in Turkana. We need the government to come and tell us where the exact boundary is and if Lorogon is in Turkana or West Pokot,” she said, highlighting that the violence could be fuelled by a dispute over county boundaries.