By JOB WERU

As Dipa Lenanyangera drives along the dusty Archers Post-Wamba Road towards his remote Lerata home in Samburu, the dark memories of early March 2009 are heavy on his mind.

This is the day when state agents swarmed the village and impounded hundreds of his cattle before driving them away.

Dipa, like many of his Lerata, Laresoro, Archers Post, Sereolipi, Lpus-Lelai and Nakwamoru villages were left with nothing but bitterness to a government — to which they pay taxes.

That week of government ‘operation’ was filled with darkness and when life returned to normal, the villagers had plummeted from riches to poverty and destitution. Many children were orphaned while happy families were reduced hopelessness as bread winners were no more.

Desperation

Many others were left nursing wounds after contingents of the elite Rapid Deployment Unit (RDU) of the Administration Police, the paramilitary General Service Unit, regular police and the army were deployed to take away thousands of cattle belonging to the pastoralist Samburu community. It was alleged that the villagers had stolen the animals from Isiolo, Meru North and Igembe districts.

Last year, when The Standard paid a visit to some of the aggrieved families in Laresoro, there was desperation all over. We found a widow, Nkaaya Lenaiyasa who had only five goats having lost a herd of 30 cattle and 29 goats to the officers.

Her son, Pipiol grazed the goats after abandoning school to take over the grazing role which his deceased brother used to handle.

The brother, Lemaikur, was allegedly shot dead by the security forces.

“He was grazing cattle with his cousins at a laga (sub-surface river) near Lolora hills. The army came and using two helicopters, started herding away the cattle,” said Nkaaya.

Lemarkur and his cousins resisted and started driving the cattle to different directions and that is when “the army in the chopper sprayed them with bullets”.

“I did not even see his body. I was not strong at all. They took all the cattle, which were my livelihood, and then killed my eldest son who grazed them,” she said sorrowfully.

There are even accusations that the army officers in the chopper sprayed children with “hot water and fire”. Esterina Lemayo says her five-year-old son, Loiboo Lemayo, has not been traced since that afternoon when the army raided the village and impounded their cattle.

The Government’s action came after a spell of armed cattle raids in then Isiolo and Meru districts. Authorities suspected the raids were perpetrated by rustlers from the neighbouring Samburu East District.

But according to Lenanyangera, his people raided, but only after they were provoked by Borana raiders who stole their cattle and killed a young herder at Nakwamoru village.

“They struck and stole cattle, besides abducting two boys who were herding them.

The body of one of the boys was found dumped in the jungle. This is what prompted Samburu youths (morans) to track the cattle and the raiders,” said Lenanyangera.

The morans then impounded some cattle alongside the ones they recovered. This incident is what led the Government to intervene.

Inhuman acts

“I remember on one evening as I was heading home when I saw choppers stage aerial manoeuvres in our villages as hundreds of security agents drove the animals towards Archers Post,” he said.

Lenanyangera lost a herd of 100 cattle that were grazing at Lerata and another 200 at Kirish area. The impounding did not, however, stop the forces from committing inhuman acts against the locals.

According to Jamaica Ibrahim, a resident of Archers Post who resides in Denmark, about 4,000 head of cattle belonging to the community were impounded during the surprise raid and distributed to their counterparts in Isiolo and Meru counties.

“They came and disarmed the community of their only livelihood. People committed suicide and others suffered mental illnesses after losing their livestock,” said Ibrahim.

During this period, reports of rape and other brutalities against women, children and youths were reported.

A few months after the operation, the police are said to have continued with their merciless attacks on the residents.

Schools closed

The continued attacks scared off some community members, leading to closure of some schools in the arid region.

Kirish Primary School, for example, has been been closed down and its classrooms are used by the few goats to shelter from the blazing sun.

“People feared that the government officers might kill them and fled with their school going children to Wamba, Archers Post and other far counties leading to closing down of the institution,” says William Lesakale, a resident of Archers Post.

After three years of petitioning government to pay them in vain, the community has decided to do something about the situation — they are fundraising to help widows and orphans restock.

“We feel neglected and as if we are not part of Kenya. Why did the government decide to take all our cattle and leave us to die?” queried Silvano Longoro, a resident of Kirish.

Longoro says they now depend on relief food, something degrading to a people who used to feed themselves but have been pushed to destitution.

Ibrahim and Lenanyangera told The Standard that the community has raised about 100 cattle, which will be distributed to the most affected residents.

“I thank God that I have managed to gather a herd of 60 cattle, and that is why I feel obliged to donate one or two of my cows to give out to the poor,” says Lenanyangera.