Breaking News: At least 10 feared to have drowned in Makueni river
Comprehensive plan needed to rebuild the north
What you need to know:
- Beyond the initiative announced by the President, we must draw up a long-term plan of dealing with this menace.
- Coming up with a common plan to deal with the conflict in the north should therefore be everyone’s business, and especially the leaders.
- You can imagine what a group of youth trained in different skills can do in a region that has only seen its young people wander in the wilderness and get involved in cattle rustling.
Over the last couple of weeks, the national conversation in Kenya has been on the conflicts in the northern parts of the country.
This conflict is not new in our history and so before we forget and move on to another phase, it is important to discuss the matter.
One of the reasons for the conflict amongst the pastoral communities has been identified as marginalisation; the failure to develop the area to be at par with other parts of the country. This marginalisation has left many people, especially the youth, hopeless and vulnerable to incitement into criminal activities.
It is commendable that President Uhuru Kenyatta has proposed, as part of the solution, the setting up of a National Youth Service camp and enlisting the young people from this region into the programme in large numbers. This is a single and very important move that calls for the support of all peace-loving Kenyans, especially the residents of this region.
Many young people from the Turkana, Samburu and Pokot communities do not get equal opportunities as the rest of their colleagues elsewhere in the country.
This is partly to do with the cultural practices that have become a norm and also due neglect from the country’s as well as the region’s leadership.
LONG-TERM PLAN
Beyond the initiative announced by the President, we must draw up a long-term plan of dealing with this menace. Critically, it is important that the President initiates the formation of a joint taskforce of local leaders from the political, professional, religious and community circles to come up with a solution to the perennial problem.
It is time that we came up with a peace, recovery and development programme aimed at ensuring that we safeguard the lives of innocent Kenyans who are suffering in Kenya’s north. And this should not only be an ad hoc arrangement, but also one anchored in a legal framework to safeguard it from abuse.
It is good that we have seen different groups taking up initiatives which are similar in nature but as the old adage goes, ‘two heads are always better than one’. Coming up with a common plan to deal with the conflict in the north should therefore be everyone’s business, and especially the leaders.
We could even borrow a leaf from the Karamoja Integrated Disarmament and Development Programme of Uganda. After years of conflict, KIDDP is restoring the dignity of life among the residents.
Karamoja has seen great progress in terms of agriculture, education, health, roads and water and this can easily be replicated in our situation. The Ugandan government and the local Karamoja leadership made a deliberate step to deal with the unending conflicts and now the residents are enjoying the fruits of these efforts.
Putting politics and other selfish interests aside, we can as a country address the situation that we are facing in the north. This will help us not only aid the residents but also see renew interests in the area for development purposes.
You can imagine what a group of youth trained in different skills can do in a region that has only seen its young people wander in the wilderness and get involved in cattle rustling.
The writer is a nominated senator and a peace ambassador
