Kapondi, Serut differ on Mt Elgon clashes

By Robert Wanyonyi

 

Political leaders from Mt Elgon District differed over the cause of clashes in the area during the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) hearings in Bungoma.

In an emotive session, former Mt Elgon MP John Serut and current MP Fred Kapondi clashed on several occasions over their role in the land clashes that led to the formation of the Sabaot Land Defence Force (SLDF) militia.

Serut, who continued with his testimony on Tuesday, said it was claimed that SLDF was Kapondi’s army, but added that the statement did not mean that the ODM MP was behind the group.

He instead urged TJRC to establish the person behind the militia group blamed for killing about 600 people. The former assistant minister defended the military against accusations of torture and high-handedness in an operation dubbed Okoa Maisha.

He said were it not for the intervention of the army, SLDF could have devastated the region.

“I personally requested the Government to deploy the military in Mt Elgon because lives were being lost daily and the situation was degenerating from bad to worse,” Serut told the TJRC session at the Christ the King Catholic Hall in Bungoma.

The former MP narrated how teachers and other civil servants were forced to pay illegal taxes to the militia group and added that the entry of the military was a big relief to residents.

Serut told the session’s chairperson commissioner Gertrude Chawatama that the military must not be withdrawn from the area because SLDF has not been entirely uprooted.

“Most of the militia group’s senior commanders and members took off with their arms to West Pokot while others crossed over to Uganda. Police only recovered 102 guns, where are the rest?” asked Serut.

Kapondi, without direct reference, blamed Serut’s leadership for causing the land clashes.

 

Resist settlement

 

The MP said skewed allocation of the third phase of land at the controversial Chebyuk Settlement Scheme ignited chaos as disillusioned youth took up arms to resist settlement of beneficiaries.

He said political leaders interfered with the exercise of land allocation by sneaking in their supporters to benefit from the programme at the expense of deserving squatters.

Denying any involvement with the SLDF, Kapondi said the clashes in Mt Elgon became a security threat to leaders.

The MP said the Government should find a lasting solution to the crisis by ensuring a transparent land resettlement programme, a move he said will ensure lasting peace.

Also in attendance during Tuesday’s session were TJRC Chair Tecla Namachanja, Commissioners Tom Ojienda, Ahmed Farah, Berhanu Dinka, Ronald Slye and the commission’s Chief Executive Officer Patricia Nyaundi.