Restlessness flows in the Tana as suspicion reigns

Tana River County Governor Hussein Dado dances with locals at a community meeting in Hewani recently. [PHOTOS: JECKONIA OTIENO. 07 JAN 2015/STANDARD]

Tana River, Kenya: The county government is vigorously preaching peace as a viable weapon to end the decades-old Tana Delta violence.

Governor Hussein Dado’s administration has been holding peace and reconciliation meetings throughout the county to help bridge the gap between the Pokomo and Orma who are the majority inhabitants in Tana River County.

As the governor works overtime to achieve his vision, another attack on soldiers that came hot on the heels of another attack on a bus plying the Lamu-Mombasa route brings more urgency to his mission. More urgent because in both incidences the attackers simply disappeared without a trace and not even rapid response by officers could nab them.

It is suspected is that the attackers could just be locals who attack and melt into the population. Some residents have even said that it is a mixture of Al Shabaab and locals including members of the Mombasa Republican Council who are fighting over land.

The situation has thrown residents into uncertainty over who could be the real culprits.

Travelling along the Garsen-Lamu highway is a scary endeavour, with every vehicle plying the road inspected at three stops before reaching Mpeketoni – Minjila, Gamba, Witu. They are checked again upon arrival.

Tana Delta Deputy County Commissioner Mike Kimoko says the checks are meant to ensure citizens' safety as they travel along the Garsen-Lamu road.

“We cannot relent in our aim of eliminating terror related activities in this area,” says Kimoko.

But elders argue that increased an security presence alone is not the solution. They say the national government is largely to blame for problems bedeviling North Coast with the land question being the greatest issue yet to be addressed.

Humphrey Buya, the deputy chairperson of the council of elders at Salama location, says that some of the security problems would have been solved if the Government was willing to face them and address the root cause.

“Instead of focusing on solving issues, its own administration is busy dealing with residents in a partisan manner, which is only dividing people more and leading to resentment,” says Buya.

Buya, who worked with the police force up to retirement, says patrols are an effective means to curb the problem but these he says, are not so regular which might give the attackers room to manoeuvre.

“I am a retired police officer, so I know what patrols are and what they are not. They have to be intense to be effective, not just a matter of a police vehicle passing by once a day. That is not a patrol!”

But Kimoko disputes these sentiments strongly stating that at no other time have patrols been more intense than they are now.

Kimoko says: “While roads are patrolled by the military and the police, the forests are heavily manned by Kenya Forest Service and Kenya Wildlife Service officers and if there was to be any group residing or training in the forests, then it would not go unnoticed. The patrols are regular and intense.”

The administrator points out that even when the attack occurred, a rapid military response could not trace the perpetrators which adds credence to the view that they could just be locals who attack and melt into the populace.

Nevertheless, the Government, through the provincial administration, has also come under sharp criticism for being partisan, especially during the 2012 and 2013 clashes. One community accuses the State of working closely with the other community for selfish gains.

One resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, says that currently, Government officials are biased in their dealings with the different communities with the governor’s community said to be treated preferentially.

“We have seen this when there are attacks against the governor’s community, action is quickly taken but when the other community is targeted the police drag their feet. The response is late and the issue is buried.”

Kimoko says that these are just accusations that are meant to whip up emotions. But the elder sticks to his argument and cites an example in Kipau where the Orma allegedly killed Pokomo and Somali raiders who had come to attack after the infamous 2013 clashes.

The elder narrates that during the 2013 conflict, the Orma had allegedly hired fighters from the Somali community and promised to pay them with land after the Pokomo were evicted, but the mission failed and they were not paid.

“In retaliation, the Somali hired young men from the Pokomo community to raid and steal cattle from the Orma as compensation but they were repulsed and four of them killed – in total nine attackers were killed during the raid,” says the elder.

However, he says, when the police were called, they took too long and by the time they arrived, the bodies were burnt in what the residents claim were attempts to conceal the identity of the Somali and blame it on the Pokomo. The issue has not yet been concluded.

Kimoko denies this, saying it was just a case of criminals who were unlucky to be killed and burnt during their mission. He says that despite being sporadic, the situation is under control and cohesion is being encouraged.

Buya says the land question features heavily with different communities accusing each other of trespass. The predominantly pastoralist Orma have perennially locked horns with the Pokomo and Giriama communities over land for cultivation or grazing.

During a recent peace meeting in Hewani, Governor Dado said he is not biased and since he came into office no attack has taken place.

“I have balanced my cabinet with members from all communities are represented here - three Orma, three Wardei and three Pokomo - and I cannot be accused of being biased because my main agenda is peace. In fact, since I became governor, we have not seen any conflicts,” Dado told the gathering.

According to the national census of 2009 the communities living in the delta are made up of Pokomo at 44 per cent, Orma at 44 per cent, Wardei at eight per cent, while other ethnic groups, including the Luo, account for the remaining four per cent.

Joblessness has led some youths to join attacking forces. Says Paul Siri, a retired chief in Salama, “They are idle and vulnerable and as such, are easily used by rich people who have vested interests in the land around this area.”

His statement is supported by the recent realisation that more than half of the young men who attacked the military base in Mombasa were from Tana River County, as Tana River Senator Ali Abdi Bule stated during the peace meeting in Hewani village.

Another sticky issue is the issuance of title deeds. Leaders say the Government has not issued titles since independence. Clearly, this issue runs deep. Immediately after the Mpeketoni killings, a Government plan to survey the Tana Delta alongside Lamu was repulsed by locals.

In August last year, the plan to issue over 500 title deeds to residents hit a dead-end after the mainly pastoralist Orma community warned that it would spark another round of conflict. The Government was therefore, forced to withdraw 72 land surveyors that had been flown in to deal with the issue.