Only KDF can tame seasoned rustlers

By READERS DIALOGUE

As human rights organisations, civil society, activists and politicians were criticising the alleged shoot-to-kill orders by Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo, border pastoralist communities from north-western Kenya, north-eastern Uganda, Southern Sudan and the Omo region of south-western Ethiopia were in Lokiriama, Turkana, commemorating 40 years of the Lokiriama Peace Accord.

The event was hailed as a milestone in tackling the runaway crime that police have not been able to contain, shoot-to-kill orders notwithstanding. A few lessons could be learned from this peace accord between the Turkana of Kenya and the Matheniko of Uganda that was brokered by elders on December 19, 1973.

First, the government of Uganda has demonstrated seriousness in addressing the problem of cattle rustling in the Karamoja region. The Karamoja Integrated Disarmament and Development Programme (KIDDP) was a serious and genuine effort by Uganda to integrate disarmament with development interventions, conflict management and peace-building. Kenya’s Duminsha Amani I and II operations were but a pale shadow of KIDDP.

Second, as part of KIDDP, Uganda has deployed the Uganda People’s Defence Forces to its border with Kenya to stem raids by Kenyan Pokot and Turkana rustlers.

The Kenyan government should consider deploying KDF to the conflict-prone pastoralist areas of northern Kenya. With all due respect, the police cannot match this region’s battle-hardened rustlers.

{Dominic Pkalya, Nairobi}