Stop stereotyping conflicts in pastoralist communities

My attention was drawn to a preposterous article in one of the local newspapers whereby feuding pastoralist communities in the North Rift were labelled as cattle rustlers, cruel murderers and heartless human beings.

The context of the harsh criticism of the article was the present security issue in Baringo.

Those comments amounted to dangerous ethnic stereotyping and were generated out of sheer ignorance and anger.

The writer was oblivious of the far-reaching negative ramifications that his article had on the image of these communities.

My first worry as a Kenyan when I read the article was the irreparable negative perception that world citizens will have against these communities.

Prejudice aside, one thing that needs to be understood is that law breakers are the same, irrespective of their ethnicity, gender, race, greed, colour, religion and other forms of affiliations.

Only a few criminals are responsible for lawlessness in Baringo, Mombasa, Kisii, Nakuru, Nairobi, Isebania, Laikipia, and other areas of this beautiful country for that matter.

The majority of Kenyans are peace-loving and would do anything in their power to live in peace.

The problem is that stereotypes give incorrect crime maps.

Just as a distorted map would cause a traveller to get lost, false impressions about people and groups cause individuals and indeed, entire societies to lose the moral compass.

It is a well-known fact that pastoralist communities in Northern Kenya are very warm and friendly people.

OUT OF BOUNDS

This can be illustrated by the cosmopolitan nature of the region. A large number of civil servants, teachers, business people and other residents who do not belong to the communities work in the area.

The statistics of county workforce population by ethnic group can further attest to the accommodating nature of these communities.

The writer wrote that the North Rift is probably the only place in Kenya that is strictly out of bounds even for government security agencies.

What an alarming statement!

Has he gone to the farthest corners of Pokot like Alale or Chesegon or Chemolingot or Turkwel or Tapach where teachers and other civil servants mingle freely with wananchi on the ground?

Another fallacy in the article was that these communities raid livestock as a rite of passage! Who in this era does that?

Majority of members of these communities are enlightened and know the benefits of education.

Thanks to free primary education and economic empowerment, soon it will be possible to find professors, doctors, university graduates and professionals even in the remotest of villages.

The perpetrators of the heinous acts resulting into loss of life and destruction of property in Baringo, Laikipia and lately Isiolo must be condemned and resented in the strongest terms possible.

I welcome the Government’s move to do anything possible to restore calm and normalcy in the affected areas once and for all. The residents of these areas deserve to live in a peaceful environment regardless of their tribe.

In the meantime, the best antidote to stereotypes is the truth, and the media must lead the way on this.

We must stop assigning collective guilt for crimes committed by a few individuals.