By Paul Gitau and Tobias Chanji
More homes were set on fire in violence-torn Buranazi and Ozi villages in Kipini, Tana River County early Monday morning despite the presence of the paramilitary General Service Unit (GSU) officers.
According to District Commissioner David Kiprop, 19 men were arrested during a swoop by security teams searching for illegal guns and other weapons even as residents expressed fears that the arson might rekindle violence between ethnic Orma and Pokomo tribes.
The area has been flooded with over 2,000 security personnel, who are hunting for weapons and enforcing a dusk-to-dawn curfew imposed by President Kibaki last week. The arson came as 18 young men in Kwale County were charged with crimes ranging from preparing to commit a felony and administration of oaths in Shimba Hills and Dzombo forests following the beheading of a police officer in the area on Friday.
Tiribe area, where Dzombo forest is situated, has been on the edge since the officer’s killing, which triggered the deployment of several dozen General Service Unit (GSU) officers amid fears that the violence in the Tana Delta was spreading to Kwale County.
On Monday, several schools near the forested areas were shut as the GSU locked down Tiribe in pursuit of other gang members believed to be taking oaths and planning violence in this remote and poorly policed place.
Security sources in Kwale also indicate that there is a political angle to the new oath-taking and suspect that politicians are seeking to intimidate ethnic minorities resident in the area.
At the weekend, police raided a forest and detained several naked people allegedly taking oaths in a part of Coast Province known for xenophobic violence since 1997.
Most of the people charged on Monday are ethnic Digo, Duruma and Giriama from Likoni and other parts of Coast Province, and the prosecution rejected pleas for them to be released on bond.
In the Tana Delta case, houses were torched in Kipini and Ozi villages early Monday although no casualties were reported by the time of going to press.
There are conflicting reports about the genesis of the fire in Ozi village, occupied by ethnic Pokomo people where 20 houses were burnt at about 5.45am Monday.
Some residents claimed that GSU officers set the houses on fire as they stepped up a house-to-house hunt for weapons including guns and spears.
Tana Delta DC David Kiprop admitted that houses were burnt, but did not blame police.
“It is true some houses were burnt but we believe some people took advantage of the confusion and set them ablaze,” said Kiprop, who added: “The person who started the fire has been arrested.”
Sources in Ozi who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals claimed that GSU officers set militia hideouts on fire during a search for weapons, but found nothing.
Other reports indicated that military uniforms were found in the hideouts where militia from both tribes are believed to hide and train.
Although the DC reported the arrest of locals for arson, elders gave a different account accusing GSU and the Government of “declaring war on us.”
Mr Omar Tawa, a village elder in Ozi, claimed that officers from the GSU and the Kenya Police descended on the village in 12 trucks and a helicopter, then set 400 houses on fire.
“Today, the fight is not between Orma and Pokomo. It is the Government which has declared war on us,” said Tawa. He said the officers arrived “at around 6.00am today (Monday) and began to attack everyone in sight.”
He alleged that after setting the houses on fire, the officers pursued youths into farms and stormed a mosque where they allegedly arrested 20 young men and sped off with them towards Tarasa.
The elder, 57, claimed that during the fires, food stores, farms and shops were burnt to the ground and hundreds of local people are now destitute.
Other villagers repeated Tawa’s accounts, but aid agencies could not confirm the scope of suffering as they are unable to reach the besieged village.
GSU officers conducted searches for weapons during the operation that begun on Saturday, combing Dide Waride and Riketa, which suffered immense bloodletting late August and early September.
They confiscated weapons, including spears and arrows at a makeshift camp in Dide Waride. According to Mr Antony Kamitu, the GSU commander leading the exercise, no weapons had been surrendered by Sunday, but he said there was progress including the finding of military material at Ozi.
The village remained locked down by GSU officers who were restricting access for security reasons.
“We have been unable to reach Ozi because all the roads have been blocked by the GSU,” said Sadiq Kakai, the Kenya Red Cross official leading emergency operations in the area.
In the Kipini saga, unknown arsonists torched houses at an abandoned settlement but there were no reports of casualties because residents had fled recent violence in the area.
Regarding the Kwale incident, GSU officers deployed in the affected areas after crossing in from Mombasa on Saturday were combing forests and thickets for gang members believed to have aided Friday’s attack on the slain officer.
Mohamed Bakari, Mangale Pala Juma, Athman Juma, Hamis Omar Wazir, Mwamsuko Wazuma Ndoro, Karisa Matano Charo, Kalume Charo Mzhoga, Salim Asha Chibwake and Masudi Mangale were charged with the crime of preparing to commit a felony.
Others charged were Masha Josphat Thoya, James Kitsao Karisa, Mwanzighe Baya Karisa, Katana John, Wanje Tokala, Wamoto Mwaisekenyi, Hamisi Kenga Tuvu, Zuma Nyawa Malau and Dzomba Chondo Mlaka.
Some of them were charged with administering oaths and bearing illegal arms.
Kwale County Commissioner Evans Achoki confirmed that the “GSU and other security officers are conducting patrols” and were certain to get the rest of the gang involved in the oathing and beheading.
Initial reports indicated that the gang in the forest was made up of militiamen fleeing the ethnic violence and police operations in the Tana Delta.
Principal Magistrate Elizabeth Usui declined to release the suspects on bail until September 21 when they will appear before her.
The prosecution had opposed their being set free on bond saying that the suspects could commit more crimes and tamper with investigations.
