Political rivalry fuelled Marsabit killings: Governor

Political rivalry is to blame for fuelling inter-clan conflict in Marsabit county.

Marsabit County Governor Ukur Yattani in a telephone interview on Tuesday said the real and underlying problem was political competition.

“The last General elections held on March 4 left us more divided because one community lost in all county seats,” said Mr Yattani.

The governor said the community which lost in all positions is of the view they have been marginalised and have no stake in the county.

But as a way of unifying the communities in the county, the governor said he had incorporated all communities in all levels of the county government.

“We have already done that, we have shared out positions equally, even the people who did not vote for us were given cabinet positions, and they even got the largest share of county positions,” said Mr Yattani.

The governor said that they shared all those positions equally and nobody was left out, adding that he could not understand why the communities were still grumbling over the issue.

“I can’t really understand why we are still grumbling over this when we have been fair and impartial in the way we do things,” he stated.

The governor said he may not be 100 per cent sure about the real cause of these skirmishes, but from the issues which were being raised, he stated the problem was about the hostility that was raised after the general elections.

He said the entire county leadership, which includes area members of parliament and members of the county assembly, will be holding a series of meeting starting Wednesday for the next three days in Moyale town and visit the affected villages. He further called for support from all leaders.

Mr Yattani said he was optimistic that the talks will make the communities understand that they are one community and it is the interest of everyone that they keep peace.

“We have a challenge in insecurity and we are calling for support from all elected leaders in this county,” said the governor.

He said the national government had not responded to their appeal and described the situation in Moyale as fragile as the warring communities were waiting for an opportunity to cause problems.

“Today, the Marsabit-Moyale road has been cleared, but tension is still high,” he said.

About 100 trucks which were ferrying goods had stuck between Marsabit and Moyale towns for fear of being attacked along the way.