Is Lapsset cause of the bloody conflict along Meru/Isiolo border?

The Isiolo-Meru highway was blocked as the border dispute continued. [PHOTOS: BRUNO MATUNGA/STANDARD]

ISIOLO: Last week’s fatal clash between the Meru and Borana communities along the Meru-Isiolo border could have been caused by other factors other than cattle rustling, The Standard on Sunday can report.

Our team has been on the ground since the deaths were reported and has found out that although there has been cattle rustling, some people with other interests could be using it as a smokescreen to conceal a scheme by powerful individuals positioning themselves to benefit from the proposed Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (Lapsset) corridor.

They are also eyeing the goodies that will come with the Isiolo Resort City, which has 6,500 acres earmarked for the mega project, which is part of the Vision 2030 economic flagship programmes. The land is not owned by individuals, it is community land. Some projects have commenced and the region is gearing up for the expected boom.

But even before it kicks off, some projects such as the Isiolo Airport, which is three quarters complete, have raised a storm, with leaders from Isiolo and Meru laying claim to it. The airport is a subject of conflict between Isiolo and Meru counties, with the terminal and control towers being said to be in the former’s territory, but the runway extending into Nyambene area.

The pattern in the latest attack clearly points out to a well-coordinated plan to cause tension and displacement along the proposed Lapsset corridor.

While seven people have been killed in Igembe area Meru, three have lost their lives in Isiolo.

Apart from the killings, scores have been injured and property of unknown value destroyed in disputed areas as both counties moved in to claim the areas.

Disputed areas

The disputed areas include Gambella, parts of Ngaremara Location like Attan, Kiwanja, Lewangila and Chumvi Yare, Ramadhan, Gambella, Shaba Hills, Gotu and Magado.

Attan, Kiwanja, Lewangila and Chumvi Yare are located a stone throw away from the proposed Isiolo Resort City at Kipsing Gap.

On the Meru side, the conflict is largely in Ndumuru, Gachiuru, Leeta, Njarune, Bulo and Kiutinne.

With Isiolo being identified as the next frontier for mega business, land speculators have been salivating at the prospect of making a kill as investors move in to set up shop.

While the project is a boon to the region, it is slowly turning out to be the source of conflict among the communities living along its path.

The situation has not been made any better by leaders from the two counties, engaging in a war of words over the real cause of the conflict.

Matters came to a head on Thursday when all roads linking the counties were blocked, a day after Meru leaders led by Senator Kiraitu Murungi addressed a press conference claiming “their patience had been stretched to the limits by our neighbours.”

The Isiolo leaders hit back accusing Kiraitu and his group of fanning tribal animosity instead of addressing the real issues. What followed were skirmishes that saw massive destruction of property.

All appeared not well even after Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery convened a meeting with leaders from both counties on Thursday. After the meeting, they were to address a joint press conference only for Isiolo leaders to skip it save for Isiolo North MP Joseph Samal.

Skipped meeting

But Isiolo South MP Abdullahi Banticha later clarified that other Isiolo leaders had sent apologies as they had other commitments.

“We did not skip the press conference as we sent Samal to represent us. We are committed to the peace agreement we entered with our counterparts in the productive meeting we held with the minister,” Banticha said.

Nkaissery held a public meeting with the local leaders at the disputed area yesterday. But he was quick to point out that the boundary dispute and the Lapsset project could be the major cause of the conflict.

“We are aware there are people who want to create conflict and uncertainty since they know Lapsset is coming. We want leaders to come out in the open and be engaged in a meaningful way,” said Banticha.

Igembe North MP Joseph M’Eruaki, whose constituency is among the hardest hit, also concurred that the border dispute had escalated matters in the area, saying the news about Lapsset had caused excitement in the area.

“I think our neighbours have been the aggressors. They want to push the Meru people away from the regions which are traditionally within our county. The issue of boundaries is not negotiable. There are clear boundaries as stipulated in the District and Province Act of 1992,” M’Eruaki said.

But security officials attributed the conflict to incitement by politicians as well as the border dispute between the two counties. Isiolo County Commissioner George Natembeya said despite some livestock being stolen, the issue was more than what meets the eye.

“We are investigating three possible causes of these issues. There are politicians who have been inciting people and we also think this might boil down to the border dispute between Meru and Isiolo,” said Natembeya.

A senior security official in Isiolo, who did not want to be named, said already wealthy elites, government officers and politicians have been lining up to acquire land in the prime areas of the project.

“It is the National Land Commission that has slammed brakes on these individuals. We have compiled a report on how speculators have been lining up to influence the local communities to surrender their land,” said the security official.

He said the problem with the Isiolo land was that most of the parcels have not been adjudicated and with no ownership documents, disposing it has been a problem.

According to a working document by security officials from the two counties seen by The Standard on Sunday, among the issues being pursued by government agencies is role of politicians and community leaders in the conflict.

“This is clearly not an issue of cattle rustling. The reports on rustling and raids have been inconsistent with whatever is collected on the ground. There are several contradicting issues that need to be clarified,” the confidential document states.

In the past, agro pastoralist communities living in the upper parts of Meru comprising Tigania and Igembe have been victims of vicious cattle rustling wars from the Samburu and Turkana. What is baffling even the security personnel is that Isiolo, which is sandwiched between Samburu, Marsabit and Meru, and has acted as a buffer zone for Merus when the rustlers strike, is now witnessing the conflict.

Shot dead

Although there have been isolated cases of cattle theft involving the Boranas and Merus, major dispute have occurred between the Samburu and Turkana herders.

In the past week, what started as an incident of cattle raid where five people were shot dead has slowly snowballed into a fully blown conflict between communities living in the two counties.

When we visited the area on Thursday and Friday, residents of the regions supposedly affected by the cattle rustling menace could not tell how many animals they have lost.

Those we found blocking the Maua-Kiutinne-Kinna road, the major entry point between the two counties, only talked of their livestock being stolen but had no numbers or when they were stolen.

Elders leading the protest said they were doing so “because our leaders have said so.”

“We have been told (by our leaders) that we must block the road because we are under siege from cattle rustlers. We cannot question our leaders but we are here to protect our property,” said Mutuma Muriithi at Kiutinne market where the road was completely blocked.

The numbers of the animals stolen kept on varying. Some of those we interviewed said they had lost 200, some said the number was 400 while others put it at 1,015.

The Maua-Kiutinne-Kinna road has remained closed for three days as the stand off between the two communities escalate.

As a result, businesses have suffered. Also affected by the skirmishes is the Miraa business, which is a major economic activity in the area.

Leaders from both sides have also conceded that there is more that what meets the eye in the conflict that has so far claimed 10 lives.