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N-MI Forgotten People revisited
IIiim,u ]ig!it 'rri ii Itr1
I I The forgotten people revisited
Human rights abuses in Marsabit and Moyale Districts
KENYA HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION 2000 KENYA HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) is a non-governmental membership organization founded in 1992. It has an observer status with the Aflican Commission on Human and People's Rights. KHRC is the 1998 winner of the MS International Award, bestowed in Denmark
The mission of the Conmussion is to promote, protect and enhance the enjoyment of the human iights of Kenyans. It does this through monitoring, research and documentation of human rights violations. It organizes activist events and undertakes public awareness campaigns on human rights. KHRC is committee to mainstreaming gender in all its programmes and initiatives KI-IRC is committed to the realization of human rights ideals in Kenya by strengthening the human rights movement. KHRC supports social, political, economic and cultural change aimed at enhancing respect for the rule of law, the development of a society that upholds democratic values, a society aware of its rights, and comes to their defence whenever threatened or attacked.
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES KHRC strategic objectives are to . reduce human iights violations in Kenya • strengthen the human Tights movement in Kenya • hold state, institutions and individuals accountable for human iights violations • raise awareness of human rights in Kenya • place Kenya on a truly democratic trajectory
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Makau Mutua, Chair Alamin Maznn Njen Kabeben, Vice-chair Mwambi Mwasam Mama Kiai Willy Mutunga, Erecutive Director Helena Kithinji
published 2000 Kenya Human Rights Commission P.O. Box 41079, Nairobi, Kenya tel: +2542 574999, 574998, 576066; fax: +2542 574997 email: [email protected] Web: www.hri.cWpartner/khrc
ISBN 9966 941 053
Printed in Kenya
Cover: Victims of beating by Kenyan security forces, Balessa, May 1999. Photos: Cynthia Salvadoii Contents
Acknowledgements v Preface to the 1997 edition vi Preface to the 2000 edition viii Glossary x Introduction: Human rights in Kenyan law 1 The historical background 2 The ethnic composition of northern Kenya 2 The clash of empires 3 The Northern Frontier District of Kenya Colony 5 The impact of independence 7 The Ethiopian empire 9 2 The present infrastructure 12 Roads and communications 12 Medical facilities 15 Veterinary services 21 Schools and education 22 Famine relief 25 The role ofNGOs 28 3 The ethnic structure 36 Minority groups and second-class citizens 36 The Waata 37 The Konso 40 The Bwj 41 The Sakuye 42 The Somajis 42 Ethnic clashes, rustling and banditry 44 Clashes in the Marsabit area 4.5 Clashes in the Moyale area 58 Clashes in the North Hon-area 64 4 The international border and the Oromo factor 74 Traditional migrations for grazing and rituals 75 The Ethiopian army and the Oromo liberation Front 78 A chronolo&y o[incidenLq 80 Openition OLE-Out 103 5 The roles of the Kenya government and the nation's media 115 The government's failure to counter Ethiopian aggression 115 The Horn ofAfrica conflicts 121
111 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REV;ISITED
The promotion of ethnic separatism by officials and politicians 123 Failure by the authorities to apprehend criminals and its consequences 128 The spate ofrobberies at SoJolo 129 High ay incidents 133 The Funanyita and Bai/la massacres 139 Human rights abuses by security forces and the administration 141 Torture 141 The use of violence m curbing freedom ofexpression and the right to peaceful assem bly 161 The role ofthe homegirards (Kenya Police Resemists) and Kenya WildirTe Service personnel 164 Poaching by security personnel and go vernment oIJlciJs 155 Misrepresentation in Kenya's media 156 6 Glimmers of light 163 Attempts to enforce law and order 163 Promises to eliminate police brutality 166 Efforts towards reconciliation 167 Appendix: Population statistics 176 Annotated references 178 Index of people 181
Maps (at end)
General map of northern Kenya Ethnic groups Colonial boundaries Present provincial boundaries Detailed map of Marsabit area Detailed map of Sololo-Moyale border area Back cover: Roads, airstrips and hospitals (courtesy Survey of Kenya)
iv Acknowledgements
This report would not have been possible without the input of people who have suffered from violence in northern Kenya. The Kenya Human Rights Commission realizes how difficult it was for these individuals to describe their painful experiences. As this report is an update and revision of the 1997 The Forgotten People, published in 1997 by the Kenya Human Rights Commission, and incorporates much of the same material, the same acknowledgements hold true. That report was written byjeannetteCarneiro, a law student at Northeastern University School of Law in Boston, Massachusetts, and edited by Mama Kiai, Executive Director of KHRC. It was based Oh research byjeannette Carneiro, Timothy Kaberia and Odenda Lumumba of the KHRC, with contributions by Njuguna Mutahi of KHRC, Lynn Muthoni Wanyeki of Inter Press Services and the KHRC monitors in Marsabit. The research and draft for this revised edition was done by Cynthia Salvadori, ethnologist and historian who has been visiting northern Kenya since 1971 and with particular frequency during the past several years. We thank the Marsabit Catholic Diocese for their hospitality and help, and their courageous stand for human rights. Many, many people have contributed the new material but since some would prefer to remain anonymous, rather than singling out the others we will just say a collective thank you. Design and layout are by Helen van .Houten. We are also grateful, again, to the Danish International Agency (DANIDA) for their financial assistance. This report, however, does not necessarily reflect the views of DANIDA.
ON Preface to the 1997 edition
This report was prompted by the escalation of fatal ethnic clashes and banditry in northern Kenya. In 1995-96, the Kenya Human Rights Commission started getting an increasing number of complaints from northern Kenya yet nothing appeared in the local newspapers. The Commission then received a copy of a memo to the Kenya government written by a prominent young Nairobi lawyer - the late Hussein Sora - which expressed concern about the rising insecurity in the northern districts of Moyale and Marsabit. In his memo, Sora attributed much of the insecurity to cross-border incursions by Ethiopian security forces. In line with the Commission's goal to reach out to neglected regions, this project was launched and research conducted from September to December 1996. The results of our research are shocking. Far from the eyes of the world, the people of Marsabit and Moyale are dying from ethnic violence, local banditry, abuse by the provincial administration and international aggression. Insecurity and humanitarian need in this part of Kenya have reached staggering proportions. A major contributing factor to the state of insecurity is the high frequency of fatal ethnic clashes and violent 'bandit' raids. The violence has become more deadly with the influx of guns from neighbouring war-torn Ethiopia and Somalia. The fighting began in the struggle for land and other economic resources, and has now become retaliatory in nature. Instead of making special efforts to curb the abnormally high level of crime, Kenya government officials, both at the national and local levels, deny the magnitude of the problem and generally fail to intervene. Their standard response is that banditry in the area is 'normal.' But 'normalizing' banditry and making it sound like a necessary vice encourages the spread of crime and results in the unwarranted loss of lives and property. When it has intervened, the Kenya government has abused its power and responsibilities. It has discriminated along ethnic lines in the administration of justice. It has violated the fundamental rights guaranteed to every individual in the Constitution of Kenya and in international human rights law. The Kenya security forces, provincial administration, and even Kenya
V PREFACE
Wildlife Services game rangers, deny the people their right to life, liberty and security of the person. They routinely and arbitrarily arrest, torture, rape, and make citizens 'disappear'. Freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and the right to a, fair trial have also been seriously curtailed using violent methods. The situation in northern Kenya is further complicated by international aggression from Ethiopian forces. Since 1992, the Ethiopian army has been making incursions into Kenya, abducting, torturing and murdering Kenyans whom they accuse of harboring members of the Oromo Liberation Front, an Ethiopian guerilla movement. The Kenya police have often been forced to cross the border to negotiate the release of abducted Kenyans. According to one police officer, those abducted either 'disappear' or are released only upon the payment of heavy fines. To date, the Kenya government has failed to intervene and make an official protcst to the Ethiopian government. The government has a duty to protect all Kenyans from international aggression regardless of their sex, religion, ethnic group, race or political affiliation. For some reason difficult to discern, the people of northern Kenya seem to be forgotten by their government despite the fact that they supported it strongly in the last elections. By failing in such a basic duty as preserving territorial integrity, the Kenya government has lost its legal and moral authority to govern. It is imperative to the national well being of this country that the rights of' the people are safeguarded. This can only be done through swift intervention by the government. A practical pian for the eradication of local and international aggression in northern Kenya and the protection of human rights must be implemented. We recommend swift and uniform action by the police in curbing the high levels of crime in northern Kenya. We also encourage the formation of an international affairs division to monitor the activities of the police who currently violate the law and infringe on the rights of the people. The division should comprise civilians of good reputation, preferably with a human rights background. In addition, we recommend that the Kenya government make an official protest to the Ethiopian government concerning the cross-border incursions and raise the issue with the appropriate national and international bodies. The Kenya government should secure the Kenya-Ethiopia border and preserve the territorial integrity of its nation.
VII Preface to the 2000 edition
Since The Forgotten People was published in early 1997, the situation has only become worse. The booklet was enthusiastically received by many, but it also came in for considerable criticism, some justified. Everyone appreciated that it brought to light serious abuses of human rights in northern Kenya, but many resented its concentrating on wrongs done to one gioup, the Borana. J B S Halake was moved to pay for a large 'Advertiser's Announcement' in the press: In my opinion the book/report is lop-sided as it talks basically of one tribe. Moyale and Marsabit Districts are made of many tribes. (Kenya Times 3/4/97)
And in a subsequent letter he refers scathingly U) researchers who base their findings on halfbaked information. (Nation 29/4/97) There was a heated correspondence in the press until finally the editor declared 'this correspondence is now closed'. Close reading, or even a glance at the cover picture of a Reiidille mother and child, shows that the report was not completely biased, but it is true that in most incidents Borana were the victims. And it is unfortunately true that some of the incidents described were not correctly documented. The booklet was also criticized for singling out northern Kenya as having 'abnormally high levels of crime'. Given the disgracefully high crime rate throughout the country and recent appalling incidents of politically motivated 'ethnic cleansing' in places such as the Rift Valley (1991-92, 1998) and Likoni (1997), northern Kenya is, if anything, relatively tranquil. Irresponsible, biased and erroneous newspaper reporting has much to do with this erroneous view of iiorthern Kenya. The booklet also made it seem as though Ethiopian forays into Kenyan territory are something very new: 'Since 1992, the Ethiopian army has been making incursions into Kenya.. .' (p. vii). As we will see in the Introduc- tion, such incursions have been going on ever since Menelik II came to power (1889-1913) and expanded his empire southward.
vu PREFACE
It was also misleading to write, 'The fighting began in the struggle for land and other economic resources, and now has become retaliatory in nature.' (p. v). Fightinghas never been over land per se but always over 'the other economic resources'. The main 'economic resource' was grazing. (Wells were always owned by individuals or clans, and there was never fighting over wells.) The other was the livestock itself, swiped back and forth by gangs of young warriors seeking glory. Fighting over grazing and livestock raids have always been, naturally, retaliatory. We have tried to heed these complaints and to rectify errors, both of omission and commission, that appeared in the 1997 version. We have written a new, longer introduction to clarify the history of northern Kenya and give better background to its ethnic tensiow Ve have extended the concept of human rights abuses to the plight of certain minority ethnic groups. We have increased the listing of incidents to include all those of the past several years that we could document. We have also added a section on how northern Kenya is misrepresented in the media. We have, however, deleted the section 'Women's Issues' that appeared in the 1997 report, because we have not found enough specific incidents to warrant our treating women as a separate group. Women are not noticeably targeted as easily vulnerable in ethnic clashes, nor are they particularly subject to torture. Yes, women are sometimes raped. But similarly men and boys get emasculated. What could be considered abuses of specifically women's (and girls') rights are things such as restricted access to education, early forced marriages, and outcasting for premarital pregnancies - all of which are norms of the traditional cultures in the area we are dealing with. They therefore are not within the scope of this report. We welcome all further suggestions and information. If any individual or group, such as the police, feels they have been unfairly accused of human rights abuses, we would very much welcome hearing their side of the story. And if any individual or group we have not mentioned feels they have been the victim of human rights abuse, we would like to hear from them. The 'correspondence' about the abuse of human rights must never be closed.
ix Glossary
Although we have tried to keep their use to a minimum, a few commonly used local words inevitably appear, especially in quotes. For the benefit of non-Kenyan readers, we include this small glossary. askari(Kiswahui) = a general term for soldier, policeman, guard, implying someone legally armed and on the side of the 'authorities'. baraza (Kiswahili) = a meeting, often referring to a public meeting held by.a government official. boma (Kiswahili) = a livestock enclosure, typically made of thom-branches; also the administrative offices of a town. tom (Borana) = a grazing camp, where young men live rough with their livestock while pasturing them in the wilderness far from the home village or family settlement. kikoi(Kiswahili) = wrap-around, sarong-like cloth worn by men. Jaga (Borana) a normally dry riverbed. manyatta (Maasai) technically the word refers specifically to a circular village built for an age-set ceremony, but in common usage it has come to mean any non-permanent pastoralist village. miraa (Cat/ia cduhs, also known as khat, qai) = an indigenous shrub of the Camellia family (and so related to tea) whose fresh tips are chewed in vast quantities (by those who like it). It is mildly addictive. It grows only in cool highlands and is munched mostly in hot lowlands, so there is an extensive miraa trade. It is a major source of income for both men (who grow it) and women (who market it). The highly profitable growing and trade are very well organized. moran (Maasai) = a warrior in the Maasai-Samburu age-set system, much of which has been adopted by the Rendille. The term is not, however, used by Oromo-sneakers; one does not, for instance, speak of a Gabra moran. mzec (Kiswahili) = an old person, generally used as a term of respect. The plural is wazee. panga (Kiswahili) = machete, a ubiquitous tool used for chopping, digging - and killing. rungil (Kiswahili) = knobkeriy, club. shamba (Kiswahili) farm, cultivated plot (from the French champs) GLOSSARY
shoatc (English) = a word concocted by the British administrators in northern Kenya to include both sheep and goats (which are similarly described by a single word, Tee, in Borana). sukuma (Kiswahili) kale, the most popular green leafy vegetable grown in Kenya, used to make an inexpensive sauce for the basic maize meal porridge. It enables people to 'push through the week' (sukuma iki) until payday and the possibility of a bit of meat. tabaka (Amharic) = the Ethiopian equivalent of the Kenya home guard, or police reservist
Abbreviations and acronyms For abbreviations and acronyms of NGOs, see section on NGOs iii Chapter 2. AIC Africa Inland Church, of the Protestant persuasion AP Administration Police Cllr councilor, a local official, either elected or appointed CPK Church of the Province of Kenya. The name was recendy changed to Anglican Church, but the old abbreviation is still commonly used. DC District Commissionei DEO District Education Officer DF Dambala Fachana, a village locally known by its initials DO District Officer, the head of the administration of a division DoD Department of Defense GSU General Service Unit, a para-military branch of the police fotee KP Kenya Police KWS Kenya Wildlife Services (a parastatal organization) MOH Medical Officer of Health (government doctor) MOW Ministry of Works MP Member of Parliament NEP North Eastern Province NFD Northern Frontier District, the colonial name for northern Kenya east of Lake Rudolph (Turkana) NP Northern Province; the NFD plus Turkana District OCPD Officer Commanding Police Department OCS Officer Commanding Station (police, army) PC Provincial Commissioner
xi THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
Note The PC, DC, DO, chief and assistant chief (still often referred to as sub-chief) are all civil servants who should be appointed under the Public Service Commission. However, PCs, DCs and DOsare being, quite iljegally, appointed by the president. DCs and DOs are always people from outside the area in which they are posted (in Marsabit and Moyale they are almost always from 'down-country'); see 'Clipping the DCs' powers the only way forward' in the Nationof 31/10/99. Chiefs and assistant chiefs are local people.' When a chief's post falls vacant, it should be advertised, and applicants should be interviewed by the PC and only the PC has the authority to interdict (suspend) a chief. (Under the Chief? Authority Act, a chief not only has the power to 'deport' ordinary people from his area, but also has authority over the DO and the DC of his area.) The APs are uniformed, salaried, armed police attached to chiefs and sub- chiefs to protect their persons and offices, and at their disposal for defensive purposes. In certain parts of Kenya, particularly in the north, there are also unpaid, usually un-uniformed, community vigilantes known as home guards (or police reservists). These are local men who are armed by the government to enable them to protect their homes and their grazing livestock. 2 They are selected by the local chief or assistant chief and the community elders and approved by the DC. Then the police issue them with guns (usually antiquated rifles). The Ethiopian equivalent of the Kenya home guards are known as tabaka.
In Kenya, 'chiefs' were a colonial invention, completely divorced from any of the traditional tribal socio-political structures. Since they were appointed and paid by the government, their loyalty was, and still tends ito be, to the government rather than their oi people. 2 Homeguards were a creation of the colonial goveriunent during the Mau Mau era, appointed and anned in order to protect the 'loyalist' villagers.
xl' Introduction: Human rights in Kenyan law
The Constitution of Kenya guarantees every person in Kenya certain fundamental rights and freedoms. In addition, the Kenya government has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR). As such, it has undertaken to protect its people by law against cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. It acknowledges the fundamental right of every person to life, liberty, privacy and security of the person, and has agreed to grant every individual the right to a fair trial and prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention. Other rights guaranteed include the freedom of thought, opinion and expression, and the right of peaceful assembly. These rights are consistently ignored and abused in Marsahit and Moyale Districts. There are two main categories of human rights abuse in the area. One consists of various internal problems, the other conceris international relations. In the former category come, on the one hand, the chronic problems of poor infrastructure and discrimination against minority groups, on the other, the episodic incidents of ethnic clashes, rustling and general banditry. In the latter category come politically motivated border incidents involving the Ethiopian army. The abuses of human rights are exacerbated, often directly caused by, the policies and practices of the Kenyan government. By their very presence, the many non-governmental organizations operating in the area, both the long-established missions and newer NGOs, also affect the situation. Some of the problems, particularly the more cxplosive incidents, are reported in the media. When they are reported, they are usually reported wrongly. Often this irresponsible reporting aggravates the situation; at best it confuses it, Before we discuss these abuses in detail, however, it is necessary to give an outline of the history of the area in order to understand how the present situation caine about. I The historical backgTound
The ethnic composition ofnorthern Kenya The arid, lava-strewn deserts of Northern Kenya have been a hot, volatile melting pot of pastoralists from three totally different ethnic backgrounds. Arourd the 12th century, there was a slow expansion of people speaking Nilotic languages drifting down from their homeland in the Nile basin to the Rift Valley, herding their beautiful long-horned cattle. With multifarious changes en route, those in the vanguard of this Nilotic expansion became the Maasai, some of whom meandered as far south as what is now Tanzania. Just behind them, geographically, were their close cousins, the Samburu. To their rear came their more distant cousins, the Turkana. In the 16th century there was a sudden, tremendous expansion of Oromo- speaking agriculturalists who were living in the highlands around the Bale Mountains.3 They rapidly expanded north,west and south. Those Oromo who moved outh found themselves in increasingly and areas and increasingly concentrated on raising their short-horned white cattle, together with some sheep and goats.The vanguard of the southern migrants reached the Tana River, and their descendants exist today as the Orma. Behind them came the Borana, they and their cattle flourishing in the grassy highlands of Liban, Dirre and Melbana in what is now southern
Ethiopia.4 At the same time, Somali-speaking camel herders were moving in from the east.5 When some of them came in contact with the Borana, new composite Oromo-speaking cultures developed, notably the Gabra, Garreh
Oromo is a Cushitic language, specifically one of the Lowland Eastern Cushitic group. 4 The Oromo used to be known as the Galla, a term of opprobnum bestowed upon them by the Amharas and as such resented and no longer used. Other changes in nomenclature are simply minor ones of spelling the Borana used to be called the Boran, while Gabra used to be spelled Gabbra. In quotes we of course retain the original spelling. Somali languages also belong to the Lowland Eastern Cushitic groUp. HIsTORrCAL BACKGROUND and Sakuye. Those who were in closest contact with the Samburu developed into a small group called Rendile. Because of these movements, by the end of the 19th century the area east of Lake Turkana that is now cut by the Kenya-Ethiopia border was inhabited by several very diverse groups of agro-pastoralists and pastoralists. Straddling the Omo River delta were the Dassanetch, to their east were the Hamar Koke, then the Gabra, the Borana and the Garreh. 6 Living in symbiosis with the last three were small communities of indigenous hunters collectively known as Waata, and families of Konso blacksmiths, immigrants from Konsoland in southern Ethiopia. The Borana, Gabra and Waata all speak the Borana dialect of Oromo; th more distant Dassanetch speak a language more closely related to Somali. Most Garreh are bilingual in Borana and Somali. Although now many Rendille are switching to Samburu, most still speak their original Somaloid language, too. This switching of languages is a reflection of the cultural as well as physical mobility of these pastoralists. It is essential to remember that none of these groups is a static, homogenous society. Each is a group in perpetual transformation, is made up of clans and subclans coming from different backgrounds. Neighbouring groups have been interacting with one another since time immemorial to create the ethnic communities that are existing here and now, and continuing to change.7
The clash of empires Suddenly, two powerful new factors were added to the complex ethnic equation. Far to the north, an Amharic ruler moved south, set up a new capital which he called Addis Ababa (New flower) and, legitimizing his position by claiming descent from the ancient ruler Menelik, proclaimed himself Emperor Menelik IL His troops, known as Habash (Abyssinians)
6 They are also known as Geleb/Gelubba, Merille or Reshiat, their several names reflecting their complex ancestry. The Gabra and Borana refer to them, together with their neighbours the Hamer Koke, the Turkana, etc., as 'Shangilla', the Amharic word for black (person). 7 The most perceptive book written about the interrelationships of the peopies of the north is by the German ethnologist Gunther Schlee; he cleverly titled his book Identities on the move (see Annotated references).
3 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
or Sidam, moved farther and farther afield, conquering the Oromo- speakers all around. At the same time, far to the south, the British made a treaty with the Sultan of Zanzibar, took over his coastal strip and from that base moved into the interior, constructing a railway line and creating a capital city they called Nairobi. From there, they reluctantly moved north to halt the imperial designs of Menelik. As the European powers were scrambling to divide Africa into 'spheres of influence' amongst themselves, the British and Italians agreed in March 1891 to split the interior of the Horn of Afnca following the Ganale River and then straight west along the line of 6 degrees N latitude, cutting between Lakes Abaya and Chamo. Menelik immediately protested this Anglo-Italian Protocol. In April 1891 he wrote a letter (in Amharic) to the Heads of State of Britain, Italy, France, Germany and Russia in which he stated, If Powers at a distance come forward to partition Africa between them, I do not intend to be an indifferent spectator. Encouraged by his smashing defeat of the Italians at Adowa in 1896, in 1899 Menelik II drew a long, straight line on a map to show what he meant; the line went west from the Juba River past the southern tip of Lake Rudolph, cutting right through Marsabit Mountain. And he began sending troops down to prove his point. The British dithered. The government did not want to be burdened with the vast and territory but eventually decided that even less did they want Menelik to have it since it would bring him within a stone's throw of British settlement and the just-constructed railway. Diplomatic niceties were observed and in 1902 a boundary con ision was dispatched. The surveyors' mandate was to try to follow natural features and also tribal boundaries.8 The former was easier to comply with than the latter, for the Megaddo Escarpment, where the Abyssinian highlands come to an end, was a splendid natural boundary, whereas the pastoralist groups kept
8 Although the use of the words 'tribe' and 'tribal' are now politically incorrect, it is necessary to use them in this report when referring to past situations and in quotes. It will be noted, for instance, that not only do current newspaper articles often contain these words, but even the 1999 national census retained 'tribe' to ascertain a citizen's ethnic identity.
4 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND shifting. A second boundary commission made only minor alterations. 9 In 1908 the final line was (more or less) agreed upon. North of the line became Ethiopia, south became Kenya. Not only the Borana but also the Dassanetch, Gabra and Garreh found themselves split between two modern nation states. To this day, no one has dared alter the erratic old colonial boundaries. Our national borders are our sacrosanct inheritance which must be protected it all costs. (Nation 3/7/99) 10
The Northern Frontier District ofKenya Colony The British had rushed north to halt the invasion of the Ethiopians, and they called the north of their Protectorate (later Colony), the Northern Frontier District. Frontier was the operative word. The British were primarily concerned to keep at bay the well-armed Ethiopians, whom they viewed as raiders and poachers, while ensuring that 'their' pastoral subjects had access to their traditional grazing and wells that were now in Ethiopian territory. Border posts were established not only at Moyale (Fort Harrington) but also at Forole (Fort Wickenberg) and later at Dukana and Banya. The British ambassador in Addis placed a consul in Mega, who liaised closely with the British administrators across the border at Moyale and Isiolo. if In his book The Men Who RukdKenya, Charles Chenevix Trench, an administrator in the north himself, describes the situation succinctly. Administration of the NFD and Turkana was based on the Outlying Districts Ordinance (1902) and the Special Districts Ordinance (1934). The former declared them 'closed' to all except their qwn natives and holders of passes obtainable from the DC. Thus alien Somalis, Ashraf
For an excellent summary, see Brown 1989: 282-3 13. 10 The inhentance is not always sacrosanct; around 1990 Kenya appropnated the Ilemi Triangle. This southeastern corner of Equatoria Province had been part of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, but for logistical reasons (the track from Juba being impassible during the rainy season) it was administered by British East Africa, ie, Kenya. In the early 1990s, while the Sudan was preoccupied with the resurgence of its civil war, Kenya helped herself to this bit of real estate. In 1947 the NFD was combined with Turkana District to form Northern Province.
5 THEFQRGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
fleecing the pious, missionaries, inflammatory Muslim holy men, globe- trotters, politicians, investigative journalists and undesirables of all kinds could be kept out, or prosecuted if they slipped in. Under the Special Districts Ordinance, to quote R.G. Tumbull, 'everything was illegal, except when specifically authorized by the DC'. It did in fact give the DC very wide powers, most of which were seldom used but were there in case of need. Its importance lay in giving legal sanctioii to tribal grazing boundaries, gazetted and marked on the ground after exhaustive research into the needs of cattle, camels and shoats. Their aims were to block Somali migration, and to reduce wars over water and grazing. (Trench 1993:124) When things got tense, as during droughts, armed patrols would be sent out to protect pastoralists grazing their animals in insecure areas. In 1936 the Italians invaded Ethiopia from their colonial base, Eritrea. When World War II broke out, with the Italian Fascists on one side, the British on the other, the border became even more 'sensitive'. The main activity of the British again became that of patrolling the border. The rough tracks were improved, and in the '40s a new track was made that circled up to Dukana and Ileret. (These were dry-season tracks; even the main road from Isiolo to Moyale was firmly, officially closed to motor vehicles during the rainy season.) To pay for the patrols, the roads, the administration in general, the inhabitants were taxed according to their livestock. The taxes collected did not eveii begin to cover the costs. A few small hospitals and primary schools were established but neither were popular with the pastoralists; there certainly was no request for more! The colonial government has been rightly accused of ignoring the north, of failing to 'develop' it. It simply was not on their agenda. Although we cannot justify the colonial regime as such, we can admit that some of the colonial officers did the best they could given the situation they found themselves in. This was particularly true in the NFD, where the carefully selected administrators - men such as Vincent Glenday (known as Faras Adhi because he rode a white horse), Hugh Grant, Gerald Recce, Richard Tumbull arid, as consul across the border in Ethiopia, Major A. T. 'Titfh' Miles - were of remarkably high calibre and generally had a great liking for the people for whom they were responsible. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
In March 1930, Reece wrote Glenday a letter which summaiized the style of NFD administration for the next twenty-five years. .1 believe that you share with me certain old-fashioned ideas about administration. Just as the pace of any anny is the pace of its slowest man, so will the pace of the NFD long remain the pace of the camel. At the present time it is more important than ever that we should get in touch with the natives here and inspire confidence. . . . What I want to do is to travel amongst the people. (Trench 1993:130) They were trying consciously to rule with minimalinterference other than maintaining a modicum of law and order - something which is remembered by many with appreciation to this day. 12
The impact ofindependence Just before independence, the colonial I administration did two things that changed the situation drastically. One left it in better shape at independence, the other, by keeping it the same shape, created a civil war. First the bad news. In 1962 the administration held a meticulously supervised referendum in NFD. The inhabitants were given the choice of their area being annexed to Somalia which had just become independent, or remaining a part of Kenya which was due to get independence the following year. Since the great majority of the inhabitants of the NFD were Somalis of one sort or another, the vote was overwhelmingly in favour of joining Somalia. The British then ignored the restilts of the referendum and forced the NFD to remain part of Kenya. 13 The NFD Somalis and their fellow Muslims in the area were, understand- ably, furious at Britain (known for good reason as Perfidious Albion), and immediately began waging a war of secession. Since the non-Muslim Borana and Gabra tended to be loyal to the new Kenya government, they got the brunt of the secessionists' anger. Kenya tried to play down this civil war by branding the secessionists shifta, the commonly used Amharic word
12 We were struck by the number of admiring stories we heard about Bwana Reesi, as tall as the sky', who 'never looked behind him'. 13 It is said that when Kenyatta, the president-to-be of Kenya, heard the results of the referendum, he told the then Governor-General, Malcolm MacDonald, that if that huge chunk of territory was detached, he would throw every Briton out of Kenya.
7 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
for 'bandit'. The Shifta War continued in high gear for more than fl' years. Although in 1968 the Kenyan Somalis finally pledged their?' ,iance to Jomo Kenyatta's government, the Somalis were looked upon with suspicion and until recently were subject to certain screening laws when applying for ID cards that did not apply to other Kenyans. The Shifta War caused such insecurity in the north that the area remained a Closed District long after independence. But despite the problems, there were positive developments as well. In 1962 the outgoing colonial administration finally opened the north to Christian missions but with the strict proviso that they build schools and clinics, not just churches. This the Italian Consolata and Comboni congregations did with such efficiency that within a very few years there were missions complete with schools, clinics and hospitals dotted all over the north. The timing was fortuitous, for it coincided with the Catholics' watershed Vatican II Council, in which the approach to evangelization was fundamentally changed. It was decreed that thenceforth Catholicism should not try to eradicate or replace local cultures but become 'acculturated' to them. The Protestants, mainly the African Inland Church (AIC) and the Church of the Province of Kenya (CPK, now renamed the Anglican Church of Kcny also established a few missions, but their input was considerably 1ss.
With the missions handling health and education, the government needed to concentrate only on the roads. Ethiopia and Kenya agreed to tarmac their remaining unpaved sections of the Cape-to-Cairo Highway. It is said that when Kenya's then president, Jorm Kenyatta, returned from a meeting at Harare in the early 70s, he announced on his arrival at the airport that he had got the funds for the Isiolo-Moyale road project. Although Kenya as a whole got its independence, the north lost its identity. In 1926 the headquarters of the NFD were moved down from Meru to Isiolo, ending what Trench (1993: 124) describes as 'the anomaly of the NFD being governed from a boma in the Central Province.' After independence, administrative boundaries were juggled and gerrymandered so that the north is now governed from even farther south, from Embu. This is because Marsabit and Moyale Districts were made part of a huge Eastern Province which stretches all the way through Isiolo to include
8 I4ISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Meru, Enibu and Ukambani. This cumbersome province makes no sense geographically, let alone ethnically. But it makes a great deal of sense politically, for under this arrangement, the Cushitic-speaking, mainly Muslim northerners are outnumbered, and easily outvoted, by their southern..neighbours who are Bantu-speaking and mainly Christian. Within Marsabit and Moyale Districts, several small ethnic groups also lost their identity. The Kenya Census lists some 40 'tribes', including Arab, Asian and EurQpean, as well as the several Somali clans, as separate ethnic entities, and the Wandorobo, a scattered community of traditional hunter- gatherers who live in symbiosis with the Maasai and Samburu. But the Waata, the traditional hunter-gatherers of the north, have to declare themselves as Borana or Gabra, while the Konso and suddenly the Sakuye too, are lumped as 'other Kenyans', We will discuss this particular abuse of human rights in some detail in Chapter 3.
The Ethiopian empire As noted above, the Amharic ruler Menelik II extended his sway down to the southern grasslands. His successor, Haile Selassic, continued the same aggressive policy and conquered all the Oromo-speakers in what had become internationally defined as Ethiopia. Although the Amhars were numerically a minority group, Amharic became the official language; the Oromo-speakers, who, numbering some 15-20 million, make up two- thirds of the population of Ethiopia, were not allowed to use their language, either in schools or in publications. Nor were they allowed to continue their traditional culture, which was based on an age-grade system so well structured that it could serve as the basis for. self-rule. Needless to say, the Oromo were not happy being forcibly ubMated to this imperial state of affairs. During Emperor Haile Selassie's time, there were rumblings. of Oromo discontent. When he was finally deposed in 1974 by a bloodless military coup, the empire was officially ended. It was not, however, dismantled. The new despot, Colonel Haile Mariam Mengistu, retained all the old territory and ruled with an equally heavy hand. Only the Borana, on the outhern fringe of the country, manageE to retain their traditional culture almost intact. THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISiTED
The rumblings became the widespread Oromo liberation movement. After the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), mainly made up of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), finally overthrew Mengistu in May 1991, the Oromo became part of the Transitional Government of Ethiopia. At last it seemed that things were taking a turn for the better. Under the Transitional Government, headed by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi (himself part Oromo), each ethnic group was allowed to use its own language, and had its own semi-autonomous region, with the option to secede if it wished. However, this sounded better in principle than it worked in practice. Development was concentrated in the north, in the home area of the Tigray. Although a number of Oromo joined in the Oroino People's Democratic Organization (OPDO), which continued to support the government, the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) faction felt that the Oromo were marginalized, and in 1992 they withdrew their support. The OLF itself disintegrated, but a core remained active, particularly amongst the Borana in the south, where they have been waging a guerila war against what they see as a Tigray-dominated Addis government ever since. The OLF, which had been a legal political party in 199 1-92, is now outlawed as an illegal terrorist group by the Addis government. Because there are numerous Borana on the Kenya side of the border, (about 80,000 of the roughly 300,000 total), the Ethiopian government assumes that they are naturally supporting the OLF on the Ethiopian side of the border. Thus, every now and then, Ethiopian troops would assassinate some Borana individuals or attack some Borana community in Kenya, 'to teach them a lesson'. The Kenya government did virtually nothing to protect its citizens, as we shall show in the detailed reports in Chapter 5. It was this, more than anything else, that provoked the writing of the 1997 KHRC report. Under the Charter of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), each member country is obligated not to allow itself to be used as a staging ground for attacks on another. 14 This makes a handy rationalization for the Kenya government to not only ignore attacks by Ethiopian soldiers on
14 In addition, in the 1970s Kenyatta and Haile Selassie allied themselves against Somalia and signed a secret security pact, which, as far as we know and to judge by the evidence, is still in effect, though it has never been made public.
10 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
The rumblings became the widespread Oromo liberation movement. After the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), mainly made up of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), finally overthrew Mengistu in May 1991, the Oromo became part of the Transitional Government of Ethiopia. At last it seemed that things were taking a turn for the better. Under the Transitional Government, headed by PrIme Minister Meles Zenawi (himself part Oromo), each ethnic group was allowed to use its own language, and had its own semi-autonomous region, with the option to secede if it wished. However, this sounded better in principle than it worked in practice. Development was concentrated in the north, in the home area of the Tigray. Although a number of Oromo joined in the Oromo People's Democratic Organization (OPDO), which continued to support the government, the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) faction felt that the Oromo were marginalized, and in 1992 they withdrew their support. The OLF itself disintegrated, but a core remained active, particularly amongst the Borana in the south, where they have been waging a guerilla war against what they see as a Tigray-dominated Addis government ever since. The OLF, which had been a legal political party in 1991 -92, is now outlawed as an illegal terrorist group by the Addis government. Because there are numerous Borana on the Kenya side of the border (about 80,000 of the roughly 300,000 total), the Ethiopian government assumes that they are naturally supporting the OLF on the Ethiopian side of the border. Thus, every now and then, Ethiopian troops would assassinate some Borana individuals or attack some Borana community in Kenya, 'to teach them a lesson'. The Kenya government did virtually nothing to protect its citizens, as we shall show in the detailed reports in Chapter 5. It was this, more than anything else, that provoked the writing of the 1997 KHRC report. Under the Charter of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), each member country is obligated not to allow itself to be used as a staging ground for attacks on another.' 4 This makes a handy rationalization for the Kenya government to not only ignore attacks by Ethiopian soldiers on
14 In addition, in the 1970s Kenyatta and Haile Selassie allied themselves against Somalia and signed a secret security pact, which, as far as we knowand to judge by the evidence, is still in effect, though it has never been made public.
10 HISTORICAL BA
Kenyan Borana citizens, but for the Kenya army to attack a1leg members in Kenya - a show of force precipitated by the goveri apparently growing fears that the Kenyan Borana may join Oro and try to secede from Kenya. In May 1998, a war broke out between Ethiopia arid Eritrea wh, continues to this day. Initially, since many Ethiopian troops were, redeployed north, this took the pressure off the Kenyan border. Th people heaved a sigh of relief. The OLF took advantage of the situati, attack the weakened garrisons in Ethiopia's Boranaland, and the Ethioj ~ government suddenly realized it had a 'soft underbelly'. One year later, i r, May 1999, the Kenya government, presumably on behalf of the Ethiopian government, entered the fray. A combined army and police force undertook a massive, vicious anti-OLF operation, known as OLF-Out, under the pretext of 'clearing out bandits'. The Ethiopian government also claimed that the OLF were helping the Eritreans, and that some Somali factions were supporting the OLF. They claimed that the OLF in Eritrea were circling around via Somalia to infiltrate northern Kenya from where they could again attack garrisons in southern Ethiopia. In July 1999, the Kenya government found itself being pressured to patrol the Somali border as well. Unwittingly, Kenya has let itself be drawn into the Horn of Africa conflict. At the same time, farther to the west, the well-armed border-straddling Dassanetch (who number about 18,000 altogether) and the purely Ethiopian Harnar Koke continue to make raids deep into Kenya, stealing large numbers of livestock and killing numerous people, then fleeing back across the border, often, it seems, with the connivance of the Ethiopian authorities. Thus at the time of writing (late 1999), the border situation is more volatile than ever before.
11 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Kenyan Borana citizens, but for the Kenya army to attack alleged OLF members in Kenya - a show of force precipitated by the government's apparently growing fears that the Kenyan Borana may join Oromo hands and try to secede from Kenya. In May 1998, a war broke out between Ethiopia and Eritrea which continues to this day. Initially, since many Ethiopian troops were rapidly redeployed north, this took the pressure off the Kenyan border. The local people heived a sigh of relief. The OLF took advantage of the situation to attack the weakened garrisons in Ethiopia's Boranaland, and the Ethiopian government suddenly realized it had a 'soft underbelly'. One year later, in May 1999, the Kenya government, presumably on behalf of the Ethiopian government, entered the fray. A combined army and police force undertook a massive, vicious ariti-OLF operation, known as OLF-Out, under the pretext of 'clearing out bandits'. The Ethiopian government also claimed that the OLF were helping the Eritreans, and that some Somali factions were supporting the OLF. They claimed that the OLF in Eritrea were circling around via somalia to infiltrate northern Kenya from where they could again attack garrisons in southern Ethiopia. In July 1999, the Kenya government found itself being pressured to patrol the Somali border as well. Unwittingly, Kenya has let itself be drawn into the Horn of Africa conflict. At the same time, farther to the west, the well-armed border-straddling Dassarietch (who number about 18,000 altogether) and the purely Ethiopian Hamar Koke continue to make raids deep into Kenya, stealing large numbers of livestock and killing numerous people, then fleeing back across the border, often, it seems, with the connivance of the Ethiopian authorities. Thus at the time of writing (late 1999), the border situation is more volatile than ever befbre.
11 2 The present infrastructure
The 1997 version of this report began by stating categorically 'Northern Kenya is a neglected region with no roads, no schools, ill-equipped hospitals.. . .' That was an exaggeration. An infrastructure of roads, schools and medical facilities does exist. The problem is that, under Kenya's present regime, much of this infrastructure has disintegrated into shocking states.
Roads and communications The most noticeable, notorious weak link in the infrastructjre, on which all other facilities depend, is the roads. But it is not nearly as bad as it looks on the popular maps, which generally show only Lite few major roads. On the ground, the landscape is covered with a network of motorable tracks. 15 However, the condition of the main Isiolo-Marsabit-Moyale highway has been undeniably deplorable. There is not a single metre of tarmac north of Isiolo town. As a result, the road becomes a muddy disaster during the rains. During the torrential 1997/98 El Niño rains, it became impassible for months. In January all telephone contact between Marsabit, Moyale, Ethiopia and Eritrea was cut because the transmitter at 'Marsabit had run out of fuel, and Several postal staff went looking for donkeys in Marsabit to ferry fuel up the hill. (Nation 9/1/98) During the authoritarian colonial era the problem was dealt with most economically. During the rains the roads were simply closed, closed even to the DOs and DCs themselves. After independence this practice; however, fell by the wayside and President Kenyatta solicited foreign funds to tarmac the main road, pointing out that it was part of the international Cape-to- Cairo route. Finally, in the early '70s, money was allocated, and
15 It should be pointed out that they are not always what the local people want. When I first visited Rendilleland in 1971, the Catholic priest at the Korr mission had acquired some heavy machinery and was industriously scraping roads across theKaisut Desert. The Rendille, who resented the intrusion, were equally busy sabotaging his machinery (CS).
12 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
railway links from Kenya to Ethiopia to start immediately. (Nation 21/01/00) To our utter astonishment, when we drove from Moyale down to Nairobi a week later, we saw that a convoy of road-building equipment had just been trucked up to Marsabit, and later we passed a fleet of vehicles with, presumably, the engineers. (Apparently work is to start simultaneously at Marsabit and Isiolo.) For nearly forty years the plight of the residents of the north had left the government unmoved. But now, with Ethiopia having lost access to the Eritrean ports and thus desperate for access to Mombasa, the Kenyan powers that be had realized that there was money to be made by at long, long last tarmacking the Great North Road. And what about air transport? It is only for the wealthy, and even so it hardly exists. The Missionary Aviation Fellowship has a weekly flight from Nairobi to Marsabit, but civil aviation regulations require it to restrict its passengers to people connected, even if tenuously, to some mission or other. There are more frequent flights to Moyale. A reporter went up on one and wrote a report entitled Where planes care btIe JbrsaI4ty. Not only were there no safety belts, but The light aircraft rattled and vibrated so badly, and I expected it to disintegrate any moment. (Standard 22/3/99) The story was quite amusing until, less than two months later, one read Fifteen passengers aboard a chartered plane from Moyale to Nairobi yesterday escaped death narrowly when the plane door jell three minutes after it took off from Odda airstrip in Moyale District. (Standard 5/5/99) Post and telecommunications services are equally poor, as we experienced lirst-hand when trying to communicate from thJie1d to Nairobi about this report. The only post and telecommunications office in Marsabit District outside of Marsabit town is at North Horr; the only one in Moyale District outside of Moyale town is in Sololo. Neither North Horr nor Sololo has anything remotely resembling any regular postal service; both rely on their Catholic missions to collect much of their mail. Both their telephone systems rely on solar power, but the batteries are often 'down' and/or the operators out of ear-shot. All other places have to depend on the police radio network, which can be useful for emergencies but is not always suitable for passing on certain types of news.
14 PRESENT INFRASTRUCTURE
Medical facilities The 1997 report described the hospitals as ill-equipped. When describing the government hospitals that is such an understatement as to be absurd. There are large, well-built, government hospitals at both Marsabit and Moyale. Both are a shameful disgrace. The wards are filthy beyond description, windows and beds are broken, patients have to bring their own mattresses and sheets. The doctors are rarely present. The nurses do almost nothing. Medicines are 'àut of stock'. Similarly deplorable conditions prevail in the government-run dispensries in the villages such as Balessa, Dukaria, Gus, Huri and Ileret. Dukana is really no different from any other arid area I visit. There are wells around which the herds gather, a church or mosque, and then the school. Any health facility is always an afterthought. Dukana's new, government-funded dispensary is nearing completion. The nu:ses'living quarters are still unfInished, because the contractor did a mimer with the funds allocated for this project. (Spoeny 1996: 16) The problem, as with all government departments, is the combination of low salaries and endemic corruption. The doctors and clinical officers are so poorly paid that they open private clinics and pharmacies in town. These are at least partially stocked with the medicines stolen from the hospitals. In 1999 the press carried an article describingjust this at Moyale Hospital. At about the same time the Eastern provincial MOH, Dr Onudi Olang'o, said The Ministry of Health will no longer authorize expenditure for institutions which fail to submit their monthly accounts of the cost sharing fund. . . The official said a number of health institutions in the province had not submitted their reports and singled out Moyale District which, he said, had failed to do so for the past two years. He ordered that the district be denied the authority to incur expenses until the reports were received. (Nation 30/3/99) It will be interesting to see if the situatiOn improves now that (as of 16 September 1999) the government has banned all doctors, clinical officers and nurses in government service from engaging in private practice. And what will happen when the provincial hospitals become autonomous as, five days later, the Health Permanent Secretary announced is being planned (Nation 25/9/99).
15 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
As the MOHs for Eastern and North Eastern Provinces both said at a semmar on immunization programmes held in June 1999 at Embu The government has iio health policies or programmes for nomadic communities. . It is as if the nomads are not Part of this country. (Standard 22/6/99) The only decent medical care is that provided by the Christian missions and the Flying Doctors (AMREF. The AIC has a fine little hospital at Gatab, atop Mt Kulal, and one of the AIC missionaries at Ileret is a nurse who runs a weekly out-station clinic. The Catholics, through Marsabit Diocese, have a well-run small hospital at Sololo, with a mobile clinic that makes regular rounds in the surrounding villages, reaching as far as Forole. There is a small Catholic Health Centre at North Horr, staffed with two trained nurses. Marsabit Diocese also runs alarge and extremely well- equipped hospital at Wamba, to which serious cases from all over the north are referred. The fees at the private mission hospitals are modest, but the patients have to get there. Because distances in the north are so vast, the great majority of' the J)eoplc cannot affbrd, or do not have access to, the necessary transport. This is where AMREF lills a great need. The late Flying Doctor, Anne Spoerry, was lamed for her routine flights to the most isolated places (as far-flung as Ileret), and AMREF continues to fly specialist doctors in and critically ill or iijured patients outJ 7 When there is a disaster, everyone - except the government - pitches in to help. It was, for instance, the priests and nui'ses from the North Horr Catholic Mission that went to rescue the 36 injured in the Kokai Massacre of March 1997 (see Chapter 3). AMREF flew nine of the worst hurt to Wamba gratis, but despite, as Fr Antony himself told us, a whole day's pleading by phone, the DC Marsabit (Muli Malombe) refused to send a helicopter to fly out the remaining seven critically injured. They had to be transported all the joking way in the mission's Land Rover. When twelve people were injured, several critically, by a landmine near Odha in May 1999, they were taken to the Moyale hospital. The next
17 For more details, see the autobiographies by Spoerry and Wood (listed in Annotated references).
16 PRESENT INFRASTRUCTURE afternoon, two of the most seriously injured, both young women from Dabel, were transferred by pick-up truck over 80 km of brutally rough road to the Sololo hospital. Madobe Ibrahim had a fractured pelvis and ruptured bladder (fortunately the 1 1/2-month-old baby she was cradling was uninjured), Botu Mohammed Galgalo's right thigh and left hand were fractured. When we talked with the hospital staff, they told us they had been appalled that although the injured women had been in Moyale Hospital for 24 hours, the nurses there had not even cleaned the dirt from their wounds. The next day a third patient, a down-country lad called 'Masta' Cherotich, was transferred; even though he had been in the Moyale hospital for 48 hours, he too was still filthy with the blood and debris of the accident. (His spine was fractured and despite all the doctor's efforts, he died on 1 July.) A middle-aged man of Marsabit, Abdin Asar Hussein, began having serious stomach problems. He spent considerable time in Marsabit Hospital but the MOH (DrJama Wolde, a local Burji who had been MOH in Marsabit for about five years) was unable to cure him. Eventually, on 22 March 1 999, the MOH wrote a note of referral to the Doctor in Charge at Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi Ithe patientj complains of abdominal pains and profuse bleeding from rectum... we thought he must be having some pathological problem (i' tumour ... ) which we cannot establish at our set-up. Sir, we are therefore referring him to your surgical clinic for further advanced management. The patient did not want to have surgery and he did not want to go to Nairobi. On 24 March he got a permit to hold a harambee and his friends raised the money necessary to send him to tbe AIC Mission Hospital on Mt Kulal (transport alone was sh 1500 one way). There it was discovered that he simply had a bad case of amoebic dysentery! He was treated and in June returned to Marsabit feeling fine. When a herdsman was shot in the side near Gus in July 1998, the Catholic mission car carried him to North Horr and then quickly transported him to Marsabit Hospital. The hospital workers left him unattended and he died the next day. The parish priest wrote a very strong open letter to the hospital. DrJama refuted the accusations.
17 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
The following year the press published a hard-hitting exposé entitled Marsa bit Hospitaith appalling state. After describing the hospital, the article, byjirmo Baggajja, went on to place the blame squarely on Dr Jama. The chairman of the District Health Board (DHB), Mr Said Wabera, accused the hospital boss of siphoning binds meant for the treatment of the sick and also for looting vehicles meant to run the hospital. Wabera said that the man has defied orders from the board to be audited. He claimed he has embezzled more than half a million shillings since he was posted to the hospital five years ago.. Nurses who talked to 'The Star' alleged that their boss is a very inefficient man who spends most of his time drinking in a local bar. They said emergency cases which required the attention of the doctor were being handled by clinical officers..They appealed to the government to post another doctor to save the hospital from collapse. (Star 8/2/99) The journalist was subsequently sued by the doctor for defamation of character (see Chapter 5, 'Misrepresentation in Kenya's media') and the appeal went unheeded, as we saw for ourselves a few months later. In May 1999, Adi Barako, an epileptic woman living southwest of North Horr had a seizure and fell in the fire. Her right arm was horribly burned. After some days, her elderly husband got her to the dispensary at Gus but the nurse there was totally unequipped to deal with such terrible burns. Her husband then took her, her burns by then putrid, to the Catholic Health Centre in North Fiorr. The nurses and priest saw that the arm would have to be amputated and Fr Aritony dispatched her the following morning, Tuesday 8 June. The mission Land Rover left at 5 a.m. so as to be at the hospital in the morning when the often absent DrJama would be most likely to be there (and be sober);When we went to the hospital on Saturday morning, we found the poor woman was lying curled under a frame on a bed in a corner of the filthy, derelict ward, the remains of her rotten arm reeking, the fingerless hand almost falling off at the wrist. DrJama said he had not amputated her arm because skin would first have to be grafted and he did not know how to do a skin graft! He wished to refer her to Kenyatta National Hospital, but there was no transport! Fortunately, a Marsabit-based Swiss lay missionary contractor, Henry Domman, was going to Wamba and of course agreed to take her and her husband. There her arm was promptly amputated. (Just to give the happy PRESENT INFRASTRUCTURE ending: in October the priest collected her from Wamba - and paid her entire hospital bill - and took her home to North Horr, to the immeasurable delight of her husband.) And the situation has only got worse. On July 24/25, a 26-year old woman from Manyattajillo named Dokatu Sora Chito, mother of two children, died at Marsabit Hospital alter a caesarean operation. The press picked this up, reporting that the operation was done by a doctor who was suspected to be drunk. (Stwdard29/7/99) The incident provoked Halake Abgudo to write to the newspaper, repeating the allegation that the doctor who operated was suspected to have been drunk and then going on to say This is not the first time that negligent medical personnel have taken the lives of innocent patients at the hospital. . . We therefore urge the Minister of Health to investigate the matter and take action against the doctor. (Standard 2/8/99) The local outcry against DrJama was so great that even the government had to do something. Within a month he was finally removed, replaced by Dr Wako, a local Borana who had been working at the Moyale Hospital. And Dr Jama? He was not sacked, let alone jailed; he was transferred back to Moyale Hospital whence he'd come. One of the serious health problems in the north these days is posed by the rapidly increasing incidence of HJV/AIDS, introduced and spread by the police and military, by transporters and by northerners employed down- country. The new Marsabit DO 1, M N Wambua, attributed the high cases of HI V/Aids in rural areas to lack of adequate awareness and called for cooperation between churches, NGOs and the government to intensify campaigns against the disease. (Standard 23/4/99) Although the Catholic medical facilities are for the most part admirable, they have a serious flaw. Because Catholic dogma is still adamantly against any form of 'artificial' birth control, their health facilities refuse to deal with any type of contraceptive or perform any form of sterilization, even if both husband and wife explicitly request advice about or provision of such family planning methods.
19 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
Since condoms serve as contraceptives as well as protection against sexually 'transmitted diseases, including HW/AIDS, they are anathema to the Catholic Church. Thus the Church is actively countering the attempts of the government and of other NGOs to encourage the use of condoms to
halt the spread of HIV/AIDS.' 8 Injanuaiy, and again in November/December, there was a flurry of letters in the press condemning. the use of condoms, citing inefficiency as well as immorality. In response DrJob Bwayo, chairman of the University of Nairobi's medical microbiology department, said the virus that causes Aids cannot seep
through a condom. .. . The director of medical services, Prof Julius Meme, also called on Kenyans to practice safe sex by using condoms (Nation 2/1/99). Yet when we subsequently asked a Comboni Sister in Marsabit who was giving a seminar on hygiene for local women how she dealt with the problem of AIDS and her stand on the use of condoms, she said she was telling people that they should not use condoms, not only for dogmatic reasons but because 'condoms are only 30% effective' - because the AIDS 19 virus can pass through them. Since government health facilities are in such a deplorable state, people have nowhere else to turn. Thus their right to unbiased information and counselling about family planning and HIV/AIDS is severely compromised. 2°
chh is sometimes downright rude. Catholics snubbed a Meru 1eader' workshop called at the weekend to discuss a plan of action to curb the spread of the HIV virus. The Meru Ceniral District Medical Health. Officer said that although many Catholic Church leadcrs had been invited, none attended or tendered their apologies. (Nation 15/2/99) 19 We wrote to the Sister concerned but never received even an acknowledgement of our letter. 20 The Catholics' rigid attitude seems to be relaxing, slightly. When we returned to Sololo in December 1999, we saw conspicuously displayed in the Catholic Mission Hospital's out-patients hail a colourful WHO poster about 'Family Plaiming - Contraception', another about 'AIDS/HIV Counselling in Kenya' put out by the National STD/AIDS Control Programme and a third about 'Management of Sexually Transmitted Infections'.-.- but the lower part, under the heading '4C's of Good STI Management', one of which is Condoms, had been neatly cut offi The hospital staff told us that although in certain situations tubal ligations are now done
20 PRESENT INFRASTRUCTURE
This was pointed forcefully in a letter to the press by a consultant to UNAIDS in Nairobi, in response to some letters discouraging the use of condoms 'which perpetuate myths that may endanger the lives of your readers.' The consultant, who pointed out that she herself was a Catholic, said Everyone is entitled to lead their lives, including their sex lives, according to their own beliefs. But it is unacceptable to allow anyone to tell lies in an attempt to force other people to share one's choices. (Nation 22/1/99)
Veterinary services
Of equal - if not greater - importance to the people of the north than human health care is the availability of competent veterinary care for their animals. The many pastoralists we have spoken with have been virtually unanimous that what they want most from 'development' is veterinary services And they are more than prepared to pay for them. Veterinary care is not only in the interests of the local owners but of the government itself, for The sale of animals from the 10 arid districts in northern Kenya generates Sh 3 billion annually. (Nation 26/5/99) Yet because of lack of veterinary services, thousands of animals died when there was an outbreak of Rift Valley Fever during the 1997/98 El Niño floods. The vaccination programmes had long lapsed. The colonial veterinary services have been allowed to disintegrate into a shambles, and instead of trying to revive them, the present government seems to be washing its hands of responsibility. In May 1999 the deputy director of veterinary services, Dr Bengat Kigen, said The Government is set to privatise Veterwary Services in Northern Kenya. (Standard 26/5/99) But nothing has so far been done. Meanwhile, an American veterinarian and her husband, working under the umbrella of a Protestant church, have been living in Gabraland for many years to help provide care for the animals. One NGO, Farm Africa, was designed specifically to work with livestock, and came up with the on request, if a couple wants family plarming advice or material they are referred to the government hospital in Moyale (80 km away), and that although condoms may be mentioned in HW/AIDS counselling, people have to buy them in the village.
21 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED admirable idea of having mobile camel-carried clinics moving with the people. Unfortunately it has become sidetracked. Now other NGOs are including veterinary services in their programmes.
Schools and education The 1997 report erroneously stated 'there are no schools' in the north. There are dozens. The CPK opened a primary school in Marsabit way back in 193-1! Now there is at least one primary school in every village, and secondary schools not only in Marsabit (3) and Moyale (2), but also one each in North Horr, Sololo and, as of last year, Maikona. The problem is not the lack of schools. It is the lack of support for the schools. Western-style education has never been popular, particularly with parents who have to pay, either directly or through taxation. The Gabra still remember the year 1959 when the colonial government increased taxes slightly to pay for a new primary school in Marsabit as SabdiLaga, the year of excessive taxation! As a result, the colonial administration built very few schools in the north. They left that to the missions, which were finally allowed into the area just before independence - with the strict proviso that they build not just churches but also schools and clinics. The Catholics accepted the challenge with enthusiasm and within three years had opened several primary schools, for girls as well as boys, complete with boarding facilities. The PrOtestants opened several schools too. The nomadic people, however, were still so disinclined to send any of their children to school that for many years the missionaries had to lure pupils to attend by providing not only free tuition and boarding, but also uiiiforms, books and even transport - and food, of course. Some years after independence, these schools were handed over to the government, with the churches relegated to the role of 'sponsors'. This means, essentially, that the Ministry of Education posts and pays the teachers while the missions continue to look after the buildings. Even though primary tuition is free (as it is throughout Kenya) there are always expenses, for uniforms, school supplies, 'activities fees', 'caution money', 'exam fees', and of course boarding fees. 21 Although all these fees
21 Universal primary education is something like, to use the American idiom,
22 PRESENT INFRASTRUCTURE
are extremely modest in comparison with down-country Kenya, the idea that education should be totally free is still so firmly entrenched that there is minimal community support for the schools, and parents are reluctant to sell even the one or two goats necessary to pay the fees. It is not sheer miserliness which causes parents to resist paying school fees, even sending children to schooL This is not the place to argue the merits of universal compulsory education. But we need to ask, what sort of education, for what purposes? The government syllabus has been designed for down-country urban and agricultural communities. It in no way takes into account the needs and wants of pastoral peoples. Now and then the idea of mobile schools is brought up. In 1997 the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education said the Government would soon start mobile schools in and and semi-aiid and otherwise disadvantaged areas. (Nation 29/3/97) How soon was soon? Two years later the Rift Valley provincial director of education told the commission inquiring into the education system that Mobile schools should be established in nomadic areas to make education more accessible. (Nation 8/2/99) To date it is obviously merely lip service on the part of the government. It is only some Muslim teachers, known as malinke, who travel around to the nomadic villages giving instruction in Islam, especially during the period of Maulidi. If they were to add basic literacy to their curriculum, they could serve as the core of a network of itinerant teachers. The disinterest in formal education is widespread. In a seminar organized by Farm Africa in June 1999, it was reported that Seventy-eight per cent of girls and 61 per cent of boys drop out of school every year in Moyale District. (Standard 5/6/9) in July 1999 an open forum was held to try to resuscitate the once admirable but now 'dilapidated and forgotten' Garba Tula High School, founded specifically for pastoralists' children by the Methodist Church twenty years ago. During the meeting, the Wajir West MP, Adan Keynan,
'Mom and apple pie' - something inherently good, something that cannot be criticized. This attitude conveniently overlooks the fact that education is big busiaiess with many vested interests.
23 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
decried the apathy parents in the [sic] northern Kenya had towards education noting that most preferred pastorahst way of live Isici for their children. (Nation 26/7/99) Why should parents cooperate when their children are snatched away by the church and government, alienated from their I arnilies and their cultures? Parents are especially bitter when the eldest son (aagaIà) is taken, for the eldest son, even as a small child, must take part in all ceremonies together with his father. As Katelo Abduba told us My father was 'very upset when I went to school. I am the eldest son, and now my father could not perform the Sonos [the thrice-yearly blessing] or any other ceremony. He was so upset that he could not do the ceremonies that he moved away from the village to live on his own, with just my mother and my younger brothers and sisters. Katelo Abduba is now a teacher himself. Another argument parents use for not sending children to school, particularly to secondary school (which is relatively expensive), is that, with the current extremely high rate of unemployment in Kenya, there is no assurance at all that a school leaver will find a job. At the same time, the school leavers feel that they are 'above' menial work. Local school leavers plead for 'sponsorship' to go to college, but only certain colleges. The Catholic Technical College in Marsabit, which gives diplomas in such marketable skills as masonry, carpentry and mechanics, always has unfilled places! The parish priest at North Horr told us, as one of many examples, that when a Gabra student came to beg for school fees and he (the priest) suggested he earn money by 'shifting sand' - ajob always available in that sand-blown village - the boy snorted, 'that is work for Turkamts'. The resentment against the education system is well expressed in the following incident which occurred at El Adi, a cluster of old wells alongside which some 'permanent' small shops have recently been constructed. In this embryonic village, the Catholics, at the request of (some of) the community, have built a three-class school with boarding facilities. Of the 90-some students, 60 are boarders. Of the boarders no more than 10 are paying the required sh 600 (less than one goat) per term. In June 1999, the parish priest held a meeting with parents and elders to stress the need for community support. He told us that one elderly man retorted thus:
24 PRESENT INFRASTRUCTURE
I have two sons. You have taken them both. One is in school here, the other is in school in Balessa. I have come to get my children back. Although the original mission schools have long since been turned over to the government, the missions still continue to 'sponsor' them. 22 The sponsors now want more say in the running of these sponsored schools. In June 199 the Catholic Church proposed radical changes in the education sector, including empowering sponsors in the running of the schools. . . . The Catholic Church demands that religious education be made compulsory and examinable in both primary and secondary schools.. . . The church reaffirms its earlier stand that f family life education, ie, sex educationi should not be introduced in schools. (Nation 7/6/99) The government's failure to build its own schools in Marabit and Moyale Districts has enabled the Catholics to have the monopoly on sponsorship, even though a large proportion of the population is Muslim and an even larger proportion follows traditional religions. If these 'radical changes' are approved by the Ministry of Education, there will be even more pressure on students to follow Catholic teaching. And the situation is only worsening. When the Marsabit DC, Joash Miyoma, was addressing parents, teachers and students during a prize-giving day at Marsabit stadium on 8 July 1999, he said that due to the current economic situation in the country, the Government will withdraw assistance in schools and transfer the responsibility to the parents. To ensure that the standards of education would be maintained, the DC said parents, NGOs and other stakeholders should contribute generously for development of schools. (Standard 10/7/99) The citizens may wonder why they are paying taxes!
Famine relief A whole new area of infrastructure has developed: the distribution of famine relief food. The distribution of relief food was started by the Catholic Church in the early '6Os as a humanitarian response to a devastating drought. Conveniently for everyone, the drought coincided with the starting of the missions in the north and relief became inextricably
22 Subsequently several private church-run schools have been established.
25 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
intertwined with religion. Distribution of famine relief food has now become the norm, and many poor families have settled in - or created - the villages around the missions to take advantage of it. Whoever has access to distribution of relief food is in a position of power. (It is not coincidental that the distribution of relief food by the government often coincides with elections.) And also in a position to make money! The distribution of famine relief food is disastrously open to manipulation and mismanagement. The incidents are legion. We shall mention just a few current ones as examples. In Sololo on 12 October 1996 in a Moi Day speech, CouncillorJarso Jillo Godaria publicly accused Chief Galma Dabasso and the then DO, Mr Ikunga (from down-country), of selling water and relief food to the Degodia in return for animals. Nothing was done. The DO was replaced in 1998 by a young man, Mr Lukinyi. The story continued. On 24 October 1998, Assistant Chief Suleman Bajago Hukana of Sololo Ramata and others brought up the same is sue in a meeting in the DO's office. He and the people were accusing the DO and Chief Galma of selling, relief maize, and also of mismanaging water funds. The DO.slipped the much older Suleman. Suleman quietly walked out of the DO's office and took the matter to the DC in Moyale. On 24 December, and again on 27 December 1998, people held two public demonstrations, marching around the town and then to the DO's office with placards calling upon him to leave. Both demonstrations were broken up by the police and APs. The local community held a traditional meetingn which the DO and Chief Galma admitted their guilt and apologized. They said they had sold the maize so as to raise money to send to victims of the Nairobi bomb blast. The apology is not being accepted until the maize - or the money .- is returned. No official action has been taken against either of the DOs, or against Chief Galma (at least, not for that crime). In April Lukinyi was replaced by Simon Wanjohi Kimiti as DO, but townspeople say that Lukinyi was not transferred because of the maize scandal, just for general ineffectiveness. Famine relief maize continued to be distributed, for instance to the 37 PRESENT INFRASTRUCTURE
refugee families who returned to their homes at Waye Goda (see Chapter 4). Fople were complaining. The public health officer investigated and at the beginning of May declared the maize 'unfit for human consumption'. The assumption of the local people is that the authorities had replaced good maize (which they then sold) with bad (which they had been distributing). The people of Ileret, in the farthest-flung corner of our area, have trouble getting any supplies at all. Although the threat by the Gabra, after the Kokai massacre of March 1997 (see Chapter 3), to 'finish' any iorris supplying that purely Dassanetch centre has now eased up, relief food has still been in very short supply in Ileret. WhyP The following letter from a 'Concerned Resident, North Hon' (North Hon refers to the district as well as the 'town') explains it. Stop racket in relief food Chiefs and assistant chiefs in Marsabit District have enriched themselves by selling relief food donated by the government and NGOs at the expense of poor starving people. Once sold, the food is transported in lorries to trading centres in the district and beyond and sold to retail traders. These people buy cheaply from the chiefs and later sell the same stuff to poor nomads at exorbitant prices. Why are the DOs, DC and Special Branch officers not taking any action against this racket which goes on in the open P The government should take action against these errant chiefs. (Nation 7/1/99) And it did! The assistant chief of Ileret, Hide Hilary, was convicted of stealing 30 bags of maize. He was not sacked, but at least he was fined, by his salary being cut by half. This seems to have had the desired effect. While we were in fiercE in June 1999 a lorry load of relief food carrie in,and we watched it being distributed. 23
23 People throughout the north district are getting fed up with the stealing of relief food. The following appeared (Standard 25/7/99) under the headline 'Angry villagers want corrupt chief arrested'. Residents of Suguta Marmar trading centre in Samburu district, yesterday took to the streets demanding the arrest of a chief who had allegedly sold 50 bags of relief food.... The villagers wanted to lynch the chief.
27 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
There has also been considerable anger at the way relief food intended for the families of the victims of the Bagalla massacre (see Chapters 3 and 5) has been handled, with accusations and counteraccusations flying back and forth (see Nation 20/2/99). The problem clearly is endemic, as a statement read in parliament pointed out. Eight parliamentarians from northern Kenya yesterday sounded an alarm over the magnitude of human suffering in the region due to prolonged drought.24 .. . They said government administrators have been misallocating relief supplies while at the same time withholding the money set aside to transport the relief supplies. . . . The MPs expressed fury over the manner in which the provincial administration has handled the distribution of relief food and called for measures that would ensure the exercise is executed in a transparent and accountable way. 'Relief food should not be perceived as part of hardship allowance by civil servants.' (Nation 23/6/99)
The role of NGOs In recent years there has been a tremendous increase in the number of NGOs operating in Marsabit and Moyale Districts, filling in (for better or worse) where the government has failed to take responsibility. They are particularly active in education, health (both human and animal), distribution of famine relief food, water projects and 'development' in general. Their acronyms are now a part of everyone's vocabulary: CCF (Christian Children's Fund), FHI (Food for the Hungry International), GTZ (Geselleschaft für Techniche Zusammenarbeit or German Technical ,25 Cooperation) lTD G (Intermediate Technology Development Group), MSF (Medécins sans Frontières); only Action Aid and Farm Africa are known by their full names. There are also smaller, more local •NGOs such as ALRED (Arid Lands Resource Development, registered in 1996); CCS (Christian Community Services, which began working in the area in 1996), CODENET (Community Development Network, registered in 1998), DAWSGABO (Dassanetch-WaataS-Gabra-Borana SelfHelp Fishing
24 It was interesting that the name of Dr Bonaya, MP for North Hon as well as Kenya's Foreign Minister, was not among the eight. 25 GTZ may not technically. be an NGO but it is generally viewed as one.
28 PRESENT INFRASTRUCTURE
Group, registered in 1999), PACODEO (Pastoralist Community Development Organization); PISP (Pastoralists' Integrated Support Programme), PSO (Pastoralist Shelter Organization), and so on. One of the broadest based and most political NGOs in the area is the Kenya Pastoralist Forum, founded in 1991 to articulate pastoralist issues and lobby for the interests of all pastoralist peoples in Kenya. 26 One result of KPF's efforts was the formation of the Pastoralist Parliamentary Group (PPG) in 1998. They soon made themselves heard. One of the members, Samburu East MP Sammy Leshore, said two legislators, who are members of the group that includes five ministers from Rift Valley, North Eastern and Eastern provinces, face victimisation for criticism and their tough stand over the government's poor development record, insecurity and rustling in their ar.as. (Nation 15/2/99) Not long after, they declared that they will form a political party to safeguard the interests of the pastoralist community. (People 12/7/99) Concern for pastoralists is now the 'in thing' for these new (ie, non-mission) NGOs. Funded by wealthy European nation 'donors', they rent, even build offices, fly up and down in small plane s,zoom around in large and luxurious 4-wheel drive vehicles, import modern technology such as radio networks and computers. They bring in down-country staff, employ local staff. Europeans and people from down-country hold workshops to tell the nomads how to raise livestock and to 'sensitize' them to the problems of the environment! 27 They tend to go in for concrete, photogenic projects (especially ones involving cement on which can be inscribed name and date). They are generally ridiculed as being wasteful and corrupt. (Their vehicles are known as 'white rhinos'.) When an MSF team, for instance, came flitting through North Horr, and we asked what they were doing, they said they were 'monitoring' the situation. When we came across a large
26 For details, see the article 'Pastoralists state their agenda' in the Standard 21/2/99. 27 And they can be remarkably insensitive. Recently we saw a large young German woman clad in shorts walking into Marsabit. We assumed she was an overlander tourist and offered her a lilt. We discovered she had come out on a project to instruct the Somalis and Rendille on how to raise camels.
29 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
Farm Africa camp near the wells called El Sardu, west of Dukana, and asked the locals what the organization was doing there, they laughingly said, 'eating money'. But everyone wants to eat of this rich foreign cake. The results are some rather unelevating quarrels for this new scarce resource and between the NGOs themselves. The government has an admirable policy of discouraging duplication of efforts in one area by different NGOs. The policy is better on paper than in the field. To begin with, most of the new NGOs tend to ignore work already done by existing organizations, particularly the Catholic missions. For instance, during the El Nino floods of 1997/98, there was an outbreak of a mysterious disease in the usually and north. The symptoms were 'bleeding from all orifices'. People panicked. MSF sent teams up to investigate. They drove all around, counting and examining stricken people. But they never talked with the doctors and nurses working in the area. Sr Vittoria, the matron of the Catholic hospital at Laisamis, was more than.a little irritated. There is no mystery about this disease at all. It is simply that the local people have been overdosing themselves with their traditional medicines. We have had a number of people brought in, nearly at death's door. We have simply put them on a drip for 24 hours. We have cured everyone. I cannot understand why no one from MSF has ever come to ask us, those of us who are working up here, about this disease. This diagnosis makes sense; with all the water around there would have been a tremendous rise in the incidence of malaria and other diseases, for which the people have traditional cures. In any case, it would certainly have been worth investigating. By the time MSF and the MOH decided it was an outbreak of East Coast Fever which had jumped from cattle to humans, the epidemic had come to a natural end. NGOs like to do their own research, to suit their own purposes. One of GTZ's 45 or so projects in Kenya is the broad-based Marsabit Development Programme, to implement which it has a large, well-equipped office compound in Marsabit town. A young German PhD student- researcher attached to GTZ was instructed, we were told, to modify the results of her studies in North Horr so they supported what GTZ had. already decided the problem was.
30 PRESENT INFRASTRUCTURE
Another source of friction comes from the fact that most of the NGOs, as well as the long-established missions, have been created along religious lines. The great majority are Christian: CCS is the 'development arm' of the Anglican Church; CCF is a Catholic organization; DAWSGABO is sponsored by the Catholic Church of North Horr; FHI is linked with the Protestant Chrnches. There are no specifically Muslim NGOs working in Marsabit District nor, to our knowledge, even in Moyale, and the only aid organization linked to any Arab country is the Kuwait-based Africa Muslim Ageiicy which built a mosque and madrassa (religious school) some years ago in Marsabit town but which now seems inactive. Understandably, each usually employs only 'its own'. people. Help is supposed to be given regardless of faith, but... P As a result, the NGOs are fueling the growing animosity between Christians and Muslims in the north. Food for the Hungry International has a nice ecumenical sound to it, but it is closely linked with Protestant Christianity; in Marsabit it has its offices in the CPK compound. It is a large operation, employing 70 people, and has various programmes, ranging from water to food for work, to sponsorship of children in schools. Many people allege it is notorious for being particularly corrupt. The expatriate who was sent by FHI HQ in 1998 to see how the office in Marsabit could be improved said that 'the best solution would be to sack everyone'. She herself resigned. FHI opened a branch in Sololo. A new purpose-built office building was constrtcted, to house a staff of nine. When we asked what FHI was actually doing there, one person said 'helping some Christians with jobs' (ie, its own employees). In 1995-97, at great cost, FHI constructed two rock-catchments (a physical structure that looks good in glossy reports) on Borole, the mountain behind the 'town'. The locals were not enthusiastic. They would have preferred boreholes. But, as the young expatriate water engineer pointed out, the area is full of boreholes. Derelict ones. They require more maintenance than the locals seem capable of giving. Roçk-catchments, little dams in natural ravines, have no moving parts, and so seemed to FHI to be a better bet. But now, less than two years after being completed, the upper level of one is already partially full of sand washed down from the mountain - sand that FHI itself had taken up to build a yet higher little dam. And the wall itself is said to be leaking.
31 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
FHI also decided to enlarge the village selanga, one of the many small artificial lakes that had been scraped in the area, most in colonial times. The sensible thing, to deepen the existing one (easy to do, as the selanga is usually dry several months of each year), would notbe a 'visible' project. So they hired the Catholic Diocese's bulldozer and the operator began scraping out a separate adjacent one - thus doubling the area of evaporation. They then abandoned the project and the half-made scrape has never filled with water. When we asked FHI how their water programme in Sololo was doing, we were told it had had to be closed, 'because of security'. Yet the health and education programmes are still there. And what are the nine staff of FBI doing in SololoP We were told they are 'sponsoring' twelve children - several of whom, we were told, have fathers earning salaries! It was CCF which had begun a programme of sponsoring selected individual children by providing uniforms and books, paying for medical care when needed, partially paying secondary school fees for older students and constmcting classrooms, etc. Now FHI has begun doing likewise but adding a heavy dose of Protestant evangelizing. This irritates the Catholics, especially when done in the Catholic-sponsored schools.. They say FHI is 'confusing' the children. At least the Muslims are not getting confused. Several years ago, one third of the Catholic-sponsored students in North Hon were Muslim. But there was never any reciprociiy no Muslim organization has done anything to help a Christian student. When a rather hostile Muslim student who had had all his education in the Catholic system was asked if he didn't feel any gratitude, he said Why should I be grateful to the Christians? It is Allah who has put the missionaries here to help us. So the policy of the Christian organizations has, understandably, now changed and they now support relatively few Muslim students, which only widens the breach. A bit of basic logic would indicate that NGOs, by definition non- governmental organizations, should work with private citizens and citizens'
32 PRESENT INFRASTRUCTURE
groups. Government officials, however, are loathe to see money and facilities slipping into other hands. The examples are legion. We shall select just three. In Maikona there has been a head-on confrontation between the chief and the CCF, which was sponsoring children and also running a nursery school. The situation became so grave that it was discussed at the all-Gabra conference held in Balessa in February 1997. Gindole Katelo, who is the manager of the CCF at Maikona, complained that Chief Born used his authority to undermine his work in the organ sation, imposing his power in its internal affairs, which eventually caused his (Gindole's) suspension from office. Gindole pleaded that he should be reinstated. The Chief accused Gindole of having publicly incited people against him. . . . He also emphasised that, as a chief, he had to co-ordinate the various activities of development. Another example in 1999 GTZ sent 400 bags of Unimix (a nutritious food concentrate) to Sololo Hospital to be distributed to the most needy families in the area. Chief Galma heard about this and insisted that the Unimix be divided equally among all the villagers, poor and rich alike. Thus, instead of a few dozen truly needy families getting a useful amount, each family in the village received a scant cup, but the chief got himself seen as the distributor of universal largesse. Often there are conflicts between the NGOs themselves. The chief of Turbi angrily brought the following to our attention when we were in that village in June 1999. ITDG is trying to work directly with the Gabra through their traditional structure. Each of the five Gabra sections has three ritual leaders who live together in a special village called a Yaa, together with some of the age-set leaders. ITDG is helping the five Yaa with veterinary supplies. The Yaa Galbo is in the Turbi area. In Turbi village, women had got together to form a women's group. After some time the more active members hived off to form a separate group, which got the support of ITDG. Farm Africa, which also provides veterinary services, was looking for a place to construct a permanent centre, and was considering Turbi, as it is on the boundary between Marsabit and Moyale Districts. The local chief
33 PRESENT INFRASTRUCTURE
groups. Government officials, however, are loathe to see money and facilities slipping into other hands. The examples are legion. We shall select just three. In Maikona there has been a head-on confrontation between the chief and the CCF, which was sponsoring children and also running a nursery school. The situation became so grave that it was discussed at the all-Gabra conference held in Balessa in February 1997. Gmdole Katelo, who is the manager of the CCF at Maikona, complained that Chief Born used his authority to undermine his work in the organisation, imposing his power in its internal affairs, which eventually caused his (Gindole's) suspension from office. Gindole pleaded that he should be reinstated.... The Chief accused Gindole of having publicly incited people against him. . . . He also emphasised that, as a chief, he had to co-ordinate the various activities of development. Another example: in 1999 GTZ sent 400 bags of Unimix (a nutritious food concentrate) to Sololo Hospital to be distributed to the most needy families in the area. Chief Galma heard about this and insisted that the Unimix be divided equally among all the villagers, poor and rich alike. Thus, instead of a few dozen truly needy families getting a useful amount, each family in the village received a scant cup, but the chief got himself seen as the distributor of universal largesse. Often there are conflicts between the NGOs themselves. The chief of Turbi angrily brought the following to our attention when we were in that village in June 1999. ITDG is trying to work direcdy with the Gabra through their traditional structure. Each of the five Gabra sections has three ritual leaders who live together in a special village called a Yaa, together with some of the age-set leaders. ITDG is helping the five Yaa with veterinary supplies. The Yaa Galbo is in the Turbi area. In Turbi village, women had got together to form a women's group. After some time the more active members hived off to form a separate group, which got the support of ITDG. Farm Africa, which also provides veterinary services, was looking for a place to construct a permanent centre, and was considering Turbi, as it is on the boundary between Marsabit and Moyale Districts. The local chief
33 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
thought this an excellent idea, for it would put on his doorstep the lavish Farm Africa amenities such as vehicles and a radio-call security system. The local director of ITDG (an ex-Farm Africa employee) wrote to the government, with a copy to the chief, pointing out that Farm Africa would be duplicating ongoing work. The chief retaliated by accusing ITDG of favouring one women's group over the other, and trying to evade working through government officials (ic. himself). Farm Africa wisely abandoned the idea of working out of Turbi, and is now concentrating on a project in the Huri Hills. Some NGO projects seem strangely foreign to their original mandates. In Kalacha, a doum-paim oasis on the northern edge of the Chalbi Desert, a down-country Kenyan got a bird-shooting concession and has been flying clients in for a spot of 'sport'. At the same time, Farm Africa was sponsoring the formation of a local Kalacha Camel Improvement Group. The combination resulted in the creation of the Kalacha Desert Trails Banda Project, whose stated objects were to provide opportunities for poverty reduction and enhanced natural resources conservation. (Farm Africa files) These admirable aims elicited donor funding (mainly from the EU, which is now Farm Africa's main supporter) for the building of a little tourist lodge. We went to have a look at the lodge in May 1999, shortly before it opened for business. It was undeniably attractive, but we found that all the construction Ilindis, the masons, carpenters, plumbers and electricians, had been brought in from down-country. The only way the local people had been able to reduce their poverty was by weaving mats (used for walls and ceilings) and flat 'ropes' (used for beds and chairs) from doum-palm frond leaflets. And we were told that the manager intended to fence off the springs near the lodge so the Gabra and their livestock would not disturb his clients. Under the cover of 'camel improvement' and with the aim of 'natural resources conservation', the donor funding was being used to enhance bird-shooting excursions run by and for Europeans. When the Marsabit DC,Joash Miyoma, was making an inspection tour of development projects in his area in July 1999, he included Kalacha in his itinerary.
34 PRESENT INFRASTRUCTURE
The DC criticised some NGOs operating in the area for acquiring funds from donors through pretence. He said some bogus NGOs, whose activities are not known by DDC, was [sici mushrooming in the district earning money from donors in the name of initiating development programmes for wananchi while diverting such funds to private projects. (Standard 17/7/99)
He warned his office will soon institute an investigation to flush out such NGOs.
35 3 The ethnic structure
The governmental infrastructure - roads, hospitals, schools - is very much on the surface. The real infrastructure of the north consists of complex relations between ethnic groups. Some relationships are amicable, others are covertly discriminatory, while yet others are overtly hostile. None are static.
Minority groups and second-class citizens First we will discuss those that are covertly discriminatory. The victims of such discrimination are members of several small groups, the Waata, the Konso, the Burji and now, suddenly, the Sakuye as well. The Waata and Konso have traditional symbiotic relations with the dominant pastoral peoples (Borana and Gabra), while the Burji came specifically to work for the British. The Sakuye are the dispersed remnants of a once considerable people who fell on hard times. All these groups suffer from discrimination at the hands of their powerful pastoral neighbours. Individuals are victimized because they are members of one or another of these groups, and since none of the groups is recognized as a 'tribe' by the government, their members have a particularly difficult time trying to defend their collective rights 28 The problem of official ethnicity hit the news in 1996 when A requirement that people renewing their national idcntit.y cards go by a list of ti ibes issued by the Government sparked off a controversy. The list contains 93 Lsicl tribes and they are coded from 01 Embu,., LtoI 93 Kenyan Arab. (Nation 28/2/98) The list in fact lists only 45 groups, slightly more than the number in the 1989 census, for now the Burji were on (66) and so were the Dassanetch, although called Dasnachi Shangil (67). But some were still missing, such as the Konso and die Waata.
28 This is in distinction to, for instance, the Ogiek, a group of traditional hunter- gatherers, who managed to assert their ethnic identity in their legal battle to avoid being evicted from their ancestral homeland, Tinet Forest (a gazetted forest near Nakuru).
36 ETHNIC STRUCTURE
The moot status of these small groups flared to the fore as Kenya was preparing for its 1999 national census, scheduled for the last week in August, and they suddenly received national attention. 29 The government itself stated It is important to recognize that tnbal affiliations determine the culture of a people. Beliefs and norms of certain tribes are important in the understanding of population growth and socio-economic trends in certain areas. (Nation 11/8/99) The preparations for the census coincided with the 5th International Day of the World's Indigenous People (9 August). On that occasion, Bai-Mass Taal, manager of UNEP's biodiversity programme pointed out The loss of a language and culture destroys self.worth limiting the potential of the afflicted peoples. (Nation 2/9/99) The cudgel was taken up by Mohamed Shanko Konse who wrote to the press. The move [omitting the Burji from the census codingj was a breach of article 27 of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights which states: 'In all states in which ethnic or linguistic minorities exist persons belonging to such minorities shall not be denied the right to enjoy their own culture or use of their language.' (People 6/9/99) As community activists themselves have told us, their intention is not to be divisive, but simply to encourage their people to be proud of their heritage, of who they are, and to strengthen the positive aspects of their relationship with their pastoral neighbours.
THE WAATA. The Waata are traditional hunter-gatherers (they are known as Worra Gubbe, 'people of the bow'), scattered in small communities throughout the area, particularly in the mountainous areas. Their origins are obscure, but clearly they have been in the area a long time, for their ritual centre was, until the disruption caused by the Shifta War in the '60s, Abbo, the mountain that towers over Sololo. To this day, the presiding ritual leader
29 Whether or not a group is coded in the national census has far-reaching implications. For instance, when Andrew Fedders was writing his now classic Peoples and Cultures ofKenya (see Annotated references), he used the census coding as his framework. As a result, the Buiji, Dassanetch, Konso and Waata were all, unwittingly, omitted !fom the book.
37 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
ascends the mountain annually to make a sacrifice to the sacred python that lives there. The Waata, who speak the same language as the Borana and Gabra and share many of their Customs, have an intricate relationship with these pastoralists. The Waata are scorned on the grounds that they have no cattle or camels, and that they eat 'unclean' food, and marriage between them is strongly disapproved. Yet at the same time the Waata play an essential role in these pastoralists' complex rituals. Rude treatment of the Waata is not a figment of a collective persecution complex. It is all too real. In June 1998, a Waata friend invited us to a characteristic ceremony being held in a Waata village about 10 km east of Marsabit. A Gabra with a PhD in ornithology from Oxford who lives in Marsabit attached himself to us. We arrived at the village in the late afternoon and hardly had time to pitch our tent when the rituals began. While our host kept close to us to ensure that we saw each and every detail, Abba Simpirre (Father of Birds) disappeared. After the evening rituals were completed, the villagers started their famous dancing in which they sing about and mimic wild animals. We watched, enchanted, in the moonlight. Close to midnight our host led us to the orchard where we'd pitched our tent. There was a little table, stools, and a platter of rice with delicious chicken stew. Abba Simpirre reappeared, far from sober. He refused to touch the food. Instead he began abusing Waata hospitality, saying that had we come to a Gabra village we would have been immediately offered tea. (As he had clearly been quenching his thirst with some other liquid his argument was particularly inappropriate.) My colleague and I were excruciatingly embarrassed, but our Waata hosts shrugged the offensive 30 behaviour off— they are all too used to it. Since their social standing was so low in the traditional pastoral scheme, of things, many Waata converted to Christianity, seeing that as a ladder to rise in another direction. Most of the Catholic catechists are Waata, and a disproportionate percentage of the congregations (around half in North
30 Marsabit Senior Resident Magistrate Njuguna Kimani was not so forgiving; when the same Dr Hussein came to his house 'drunk and disorderly' he had him arrested! ('Drunk' ornithologist on trespass charge, Standard 6/11/99.)
38 ETHNIC STRUCTURE
Horr, for example). But, unlike the Buiji (see below), they were not noticeably enthusiastic about mission-introduced education. The government does not officially recognize the Waata as a specific group. Thus when census polls are taken, Waata can only identify themselves as Gabra or Borana (or 'other Kenyan'). 3' As hunting was restricted in the colonial era, and completely banned by the Kenya government in the '70s, it became even more inadvisable for Waata to declare themselves as such, and certainly impracticable for them to try to follow their traditional way of life. Although the Waata around Marsabit and Sololo have taken to agriculture with fair success, many others have sunk to existing on hand- outs. (There are over 100 families so living in North Horr, about 10% of the village's population.) Now some Waata activists, led by Mi Balla Bashuna of Marsabit, are struggling to encourage their fellow Waata to reassert their Waata identity and their rights - and getting their efforts publicized. 32 Waata community living in Marsabit, Moyale, Isiolo and Tana River Districts have threatened to sue the Government for failing to give them recognition in the August 119991 census. Talking to reporters in Marsabit town yesterday, the community's advocate, Mi Balla Bashuna, said despite their application to the Government to enumerate the community as a separate entity, the Government has remained adamant.... He said during the colonial period the community was separately enumerated unlike the present system where they are placed under a dominant group. He appealed to human rights bodies to assist the community in the struggle to retain their identity. (Standard 13/7/99) They reiterated their protest the following month, issuing a joint press statement together with the Burji and the Sakuye (both of whom had been removed from the list) that was published in the Nation of 23/8/99. Although
31 No Borana or Gabra would ever be taken in, but the Waata do manage to pass' in the eyes of some outsiders. One European who thought he was marrying a Gabra girl found himself part of a Waata family. 32 A1i Balla Bashuna had already published an article about his people in Kenya Past & Present (see Annotated references). He is currently writing a full-length book.
39 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
the Buiji managed, at the penultimate moment, to get themselves coded, the Waata did not. And so An irate member of the Watta community in Tana River District knifed a chief, protesting the group's omission from the list of tribes in the 33 ongoing census. (Nation 30/9/99)
THE KONSO There is a similarly ambiguous relationship between the pastoralists and the blacksmiths who make their tools, weapons and ornaments. Most of the smiths are Konso, a numerous (about 60,000) agricultural people concentrated in the eponymous hills on the northwest border of Boranaland. As the Borana moved south, Konso smiths moved with them, so that there are one or two families of smiths attached to every group of nomadic villages and now established in the towns. There are estimated to be several hundred Konso families in Marsabit District, probably more in Moyale, where many take work as menial labourers. Just as the Waata are essential in rituals, so the Konso are indispensable craftsmen. Yet, like the Waata, the Konsb must live slightly apart, and marry among themselves. Over the decades, many of the Konso smiths have started farming, raising livestock and trading. Since they live in such small groups, so far from their homeland, they have lost most of their traditions, including their language. Now only the older people speak Konso; the young speak only Borana. Nevertheless, they are still looked down upon. Although they do not intentionally hide their identity to the same extent some of the Waata have tried to do, they have never been acknowledged as a community, and cannot therefore identify themselves- as Konso in the census and on their identity cards. In Moyale, where many Konso engage in local transport with donkeys, the word Konso is synonymous with 'porter'. This sets the tone. Konso children are teased by their schoolmates, find it difficult to get places in
33 A Waata friend later told us that the chief was stabbed not because of the lack of census code but because he was an Orma who had been imposed oii Sombo Division against the explicit wishes of its almost entirely Waata population, who naturally wanted one of their own in that position. The Waata had threatened to chase the Orma chief out, which is why he was attacked in the presence of the DO and APs.
40 ETHNIC STRUCTURE secondary schools, and rarely do well at school; even those who do well find it difficult to get places in secondary schools. Most Konso youngsters drop out and take to drink. (Brewing beer and consumingit are part of their agricultural heritage.) Now drugs are becoming a problem, too. Some young Konso, led by George Galgallo Guyo of Maikona, have become so concerned about the plight of their people that they have formed the Konso Movement for Unification. The KOMOU constitution declares that it is aimed at improving the equality of life and standard of living for Konso through advocacy of the promotion, defense and protection of minority human right and freedom. .. As a matter of urgency the deteriorating situation, the state of dehumanization, poverty and misery that have gripped the Konso is indeed chilling and unbearable, it must come to an end;
THE BURJI Last to arrive on the Kenyan scene, but certainly not the least important, are the Buiji. They are a small group of agriculturalists who came to Kenya from the area north of Yavello, east of Konso. Like the Konso, they speak a language related to Borana. When the British established an administrative post at Marsabit, they needed some farmers to grow crops to feed the station - the clerks, the police, etc. At that time the forest was inhabited only by a few small Waata groups and the mountain slopes only when the surrounding pastoralists brought their livestock up for grazing in the dry seasons. None of these people had any interest or skill in farming. And so, in the 1930s, the District Commissioner of Marsabit contacted his colleague, the British Cbnsul at Mega, and asked him to send down a few Burji farmers. These first Burji farmers found the place to their liking and called fellow Burji to join them, in Marsabit and in Moyale too. There are now thousands of Buiji in Kenya. Unlike the Waata and Konso, they quickly took to education, expanded their activities into transport and trade and soon dominated Marsabit's economy and politics. As a result, they became resented by the pastoralists, particularly by the Borana. (This will be discussed in more detail in the section 'Clashes in the Marsabit area' later in this chapter.)
41 ETHNIC STRUCTURE
secondary schools, and rarely do well at school; even those who do well find it difficult to get places in secondary schools. Most Konso youngsters drop out and take to drink. (Brewing beer and consumingit are part of their agricultural heritage.) Now drugs are becoming a problem, too. Some young Konso, led by George Galgallo Guyo of Maikona, have become so concerned about the plight of their people that they have formed the Konso Movement for Unification. The KOMOU constitution declares that it is aimed at improving the equality of life and standard of living for Konso through advocacy of the promotion, defense and protection of minority
human right and freedom. ,. . As a matter of urgency the deteriorating situation, the state of dehumanization, poverty and misery that have gripped the Konso is indeed chilling and unbearable, it must come to an end
THE BURJI Last to arrive on the Kenyan scene, but certainly not the least important, are the Burji. They are a small group of agriculturalists who came to Kenya from the area north of Yavello, east of Konso. Like the Konso, they speak a language related to Borana. When the British established an administrative post at Marsabit, they needed some farmers to grow crops to feed the station - the clerks, the police, etc. At that time the forest was inhabited only by a few small Waata groups and the mountain slopes only when the surrounding pastoralists brought their livestock up for grazing in the dry seasons. None of these people had any interest or skill in fanning. And so, in the 1930s, the District Commissioner of Marsabit contacted his colleague, the British Cnsu1 at Mega, and asked him to send down a few Burji farmers. These first Burji farmers found the place to their liking and called fellow Burji to join them, in Marsabit and in Moyale too. There are now thousands of Buiji in Kenya. Unlike the Waata and Konso, they quickly took to education, expanded their activities into transport and trade and soon dominated Marsabit's economy and politics. As a result, they became resented by the pastoralists, particularly by the Borana. (This will be discussed in more detail in the section 'Clashes in the Marsabit area' later in this chapter.)
41 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
The Buiji were omitted from the 1979 census, but managed to get themselves coded for the 1989 one. And then, for some reason, they were omitted from the 1999 list. In August, just before the census was about to start, they issued, together with the Waata and the Sakuye, the joint press statement mentioned above. With the help of the KHRC they managed, at the last minute, to get themselves re-coded. But as one of their spokesmen pointed out, the last- minute coding is too little too late. The move is treacherous, since census personnel have not received the new directive. (Nation 311/9/99)
THE SAKUYE The Sakuye are a small, remnant group of Oromo-speaking camel pastoralists, mostly converted to Islam, who are scattered through our area, particularly around Dabel (some 60 Icilometres southeast of Moyale). Since they appeared in the 1979 census (where they numbered themselves as 4,369), they were included in Peoples and Cultures ofKenya, which pointed out that having suffered greatly during the shifta troubles between 1965-1968, the Sakuye have become preoccupied with peace. They are too few to survive in a fully nomadic and frequently belligerent way of life. Possibly in the near future they will be absorbed by the Somali. (Fedders 1979:43) That seems to be just what has happened. Although when people were counted for the (discredited) 1989 census, the Sakuye population had grown to 10,678. By the time 1999 rolled around, the Sakuye were no longer even coded. But not all accepted this obliteration. In Nairobi's South C area, the family of Mr Mohammed Osman Chito refused to be counted because their tribe, the Sakoye (sic), was not provided for on the form. Mr Chito said his family would not be counted
until the 'error' was rectified. .. . ' If the tribe was known then 119891 how come it is unknown at this time?' he asked. (Nation 27/8/99)
THE SOMALIS The Somalis in Kenya are of several distinct groups, some pure Somali, others of Oromo ancestry, and they are listed separately in the census coding. However, in common parlance down-country Kenyans refer to them all simply as 'Somalis and ever since the so-called Shifta War, the
42 ETHNIC STRUCTURE
Kenyan government has viewed them with suspicion and subjected them to certain regulations that effectively make them second-class citizens. The situation has worsened with the present chaotic situation in Somalia, and is further aggravated by the alleged link between one Somali faction and the Oromo Liberation Front (see Chapter 5, 'The Horn of Africa conflicts'). Although the great majority of Somalis live in North Eastern Province, there are a considerable number in Moyale and Marsabit Districts. However, since their general situation has been well documented in the report 'Unquiet Pastures, the nomadic peoples of North East Kenya' that was compiled by Survival International in 1992, we will not cover it here. We will only add a recent telling incident, one which happened right at Moyaie. Due to interclan fighting several years ago, a number of Somali families had fled across the border and were eventually located in a refugee camp run by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. In the latter part of 1999, UNHCR arranged for their repatriation to Kenya. All was in order; the refugees were trucked under UNHCR auspices to the border, where UNH CR-hired lorries were waiting to transport them in Kenya. When the refugees got to the border, they were suddenly, despite all the careful UNHCR preparation, despite the fact that all the refugees had their Kenyan ID cards, refused entry into Kenya. There was a huge uproar, with considerable coverage in the press, in which the Kenyan government came in for harsh criticism as well as support. Marsden Madoka, the spokesman for the Office of the President, in turn criticized the United Nations Commission for Refugees for intending to 'ferry foreigners to Kenya.' He said, 'As far as we are concerned, those are not Kenyans.' (Nation 22/11/99) It is noteworthy that Madoka used the phrase 'as far as we are concerned'
34 Some of the tangled tendrils of the grapevine, some sprouted by Kenyan Somalis themselves, had it that the ID cards had been illegally acquired (the issuing of ID cards is notoriously 'flexible'), that the group was an opportunistic one, that it included Borana and Garre as well as Somalis, and that it had been stopped because it included alleged members of the OLF whom the Ethiopian authorities wished to get their hands on (see Chapter 4).
43 ETHNiC STRUCTURE
Kenyan government has viewed them with suspicion and subjected them to certain regulations that effectively make them second-class citizens. The situation has worsened with the present chaotic situation in Somalia, and is further aggravated by the alleged link between one Somali faction and the Oromo Liberation Front (see Chapter 5, 'The Horn of Africa conflicts'). Although the great majority of Somalis live in North Eastern Province, there are a considerable number in Moyale and Marsabit Districts. However, since their general situation has been well documented in the report 'Unquiet Pastures, the nomadic peoples of North East Kenya' that was compiled by Survival International in 1992, we will not cover it here. We will only add a recent telling incident, one which happened right at Moyale. Due to intercian fighting several years ago, a number of Somali families had fled across the border and were eventually located in a refugee camp run by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. In the latter part of 1999, UNHCR arranged for their repatriation to Kenya. All was in order; the refugees were trucked under UNHCR auspices to the border, where UNHCR-hired lorries were waiting to transport them in Kenya. When the refugees got to the border, they were suddenly, despite all the careful UNHCR preparation, despite the fact that all the refugees had their Kenyan ID cards, refused entry into Kenya. There was a huge uproar, with considerable coverage in the press, in which the Kenyan government came in for harsh criticism as well as support. Marsden Madoka, the spokesman for the Office of the President, in turn criticized the United Nations Commission for Refugees for intending to 'ferry foreigners to Kenya.' He said, 'As far as we are concerned, those are not Kenyans.' (Nation 22/11/99) It is noteworthy that Madoka used the phrase 'as far as we are concerned'
34 Some of the tangled tendrils of the grapevine, some sprouted by Kenyan Somalis themselves, had it that the ID cards had been illegally acquired (the issuing of ID cards is notoriously 'flexible'), that the group was an opportunistic one, that it included Boraiia and Garre as well as Somalis, and that it had been stopped because it included alleged members of the OLF whom the Ethiopian authorities wished to get their hands on (see Chapter 4).
43 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
Not long thereafter, Kenya's president ordered 'warring Somali warlords' living in Kenya to leave the country. The press picked this up and although basically in agreement with the order, a forthright editorial ended by saying As the government plans to effect the President's order, we hope that Kenyans of Somali extraction will not be targeted for humiliation and harassment in the name of flushing out aliens. Similar past experiences have neither solved the refugee problem nor endeared the government to Kenyan Somalis. (Nation 3/12/99)
Ethnic clashes, rustling and bandiv As we have said, the real infrastructure of the north consists of complex relations between ethnic groups. Now we turn to those that are overtly hostile. Much of the violence in northern Kenya is described.s 'ethnic clashes'. These are not clashes between cultures on the basis of culture per Se, but between members of different cultures, ie, between what used to be called tribes. Even in mono-ethnic areas, such as Sololo which is purely Borana, there are tensions and killings, for 'clanism' raises its equally ugly head. The research of the 1996/97 KHRC team indicated that much of the recent ethnic violence in Kenya has been state-sponsored. Throughout Kenya, the ruling party has been found promoting tribal separatism and tension instead of encouraging the different ethnic groups to live in harmony and work towards common national goals. We found this to be true for northern Kenya too. We will leave discussion of this for Chapter 5, 'The role of the Kenya governmentand the nation's media'. In this chapter we document the ethnic clashes that have occurred in Marsabit and Moyale Districts during the past few years, and we do so in chronological order to show how one killing, raid or attack results in another. Such violence is particularly common around Marsabit mountain, where people of five major ethnic groups (Borana, Buiji, Gabra, Rendille and Samburu) are competing for the limited arable land, each claiming they were there first. Amongst the most aggressive have been the Borana - although it is documented in colonial records that the first Borana, the 'Hofte', arrived here only at the beginning of this century, a direct result of Menelik II's imperial conquest of their homeland to the north.
44 ETHNIC STRUCTURE
There is also considerable violence in the far northwest, where the Gabra come into contact with the Dassanetch, well supplied with arms from Ethiopia. With the terrible proliferation not just of ordinary guns but of automatic weapons, ethnic violence has become not necessarily more common but certainly more lethal than ever before.
CLASHES IN THE MARSABIT AREA A distressingly good example of ethnic clashes are those which erupted in June 1992 around Marsabit mountain. It is in a relatively fertile area and has become increasingly settled. The Buiji, as described in the previous section, were the first to take up farming, and spread eastward towards Dirib Gombo. Then came Rendille; Songa, on the eastern slopes, was one of their first settlements. In 1972 another settlement was created with the sponsorship of the CPK at Kituruni on the southern slopes of the mountain, some 30 kms by road from the town (but only a few hours walk on footpaths) to enable some drought-impoverished Rendille and Rendille- Samburu to start a new life as farmers. During the same decade, the Catholic Church helped some similarly destitute Gabra take up farming on what became known as Gabra Scheme. The Borana resented the presence of Burji and particularly Rendille in what they felt was their land. There was scrapping back and forth. Tension increased. Raids increased.
22.Junc 92 Some Borana made off with a herd of Rendille cattle from Songa. When the Rendille tried to retrieve them, one man, Antoriy Kidakhan Esimbasele, was shot dead near the primary school in the area known as Leyai, just below Songa.
24June 92 Two days later, two more Rendille from Songa were killed. Antony Johanna Lebardei and Leiborkhe Orguba, who had gone to Marsabit to sell onions and sukuma, were shot dead in the late afternoon as they were returning home to Songa.
45 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
Then, the same evening, at dusk when the cattle had come in and people had begun milking, the village of Kituruni was attacked by a large group of armed Borana (estimates vary, but probably at least 30). The inhabitants were taken totally by surprise; eight people were killed (Mpririyon Neepe, Matayon Lesuyai, Lkirita Lesuyai, Lteretwe Lesuyai, Maki Leborokwe, Ltesekwe Leborokwe, Ltapaua Lekomboi and a 2-month-old baby), and two little boys were castrated (Ngida Lekomboi and Andrew Leborokwe). The Borana, none of whom were even wounded, made off with about 180 head of cattle. Christine Leborokwc, whom the KHRC team referred to as 'a sad Rendille mother', described the raid (not totally accurately) when the team interviewed her four years later, on 19 September 1996. It happened in 1992. My son was a year old. The attackers came to the village. During the raid they forced their way into my J.iome and mutilated the genitals of my son. Four Isicl other children were suffered the same fate [castration]. The raiders killed eight of our neighbours and stole all our livestock. Two mothers were beaten up badly. I am now very poor because all my cattle were taken. All my children but one have dropped out of school due to lack of fees. The police came, and even the DC. The police subsequently arrested some people. One was Wario Guracha, who was jailed for 1 1/2 years. Informants did not know what happened to other suspects.
2SJune 92 The very next day, Rendille warriors went out to revenge the attack. They seized a large number of cattle from near Kubi Qallo (below Songa) to divide up amongst the people of Kituruni who had had theirs stolen in the attack. But the cattle the Rendille seized were not those which had been stolen, so the police made the warriors return them. These June '92 killings precipitated a mass emigration of Rendille from the area, particularly around Leyai. But that was only the beginning. The Kituruni massacre reu1ted in a series of revenge killings that continue to this day. Most of the attacks have been by Borana, allegedly sponsored by their then local MP (see Chapter 5), on Rendille. But a number of Gabra
46 ETHNIC STRUCTURE have also been attacked by (or attack) Rendille. Occasionally (twice, that we know of) a local Turkana has been killed. 35
12 October94 A very old man named Wario Dabelo (a Gabra Odoola) was shot dead late at night just outside his home in the Majengo area of Marsabit town when he rushed out to try to prevent Rendille raiders from making off with the animals belonging to his neighbour, an elderly Samburu named Lemerele. Many of the attacks have been on the Rendille of Songa. The farmers of Songa supply Marsabit with much of its milk, maize and vegetables. Many of the attacks were made on people, including women and children, innocently walking to town along the road, which passes through the forest. The attacks got so bad that now, for several years, thrice-weekly foot convoys have been instituted, in which the people walk in a compact group escorted by armed guards.
November94 There was an attack on a totally unarmed group of villagers from Songa. As the catechist there, Andrew Iltubugo, described, We were walking home from church, where we'd been commemorating the first anniversary of the death of Fr John lAsteggiano, a much-liked priest who died 21/11/931. Suddenly we were attacked with bullets. One man was killed, his name was Mainalo Mirgichan. It happened so unexpectedly and fast that we didn't even see our attackers.
Februaiy 95 At Shura, a herd of 230 head of cattle were stolen which belonged to Gila Baji, a Borana kiiown as 'a tycoon in animals' who lives in Dub Goba (Sagante). Meanwhile there was a spate of very nasty Borana-Burji clashes. This had started in 1992 when a Borana boy, looking for a strayed donkey, had been caught in the rain and tried to take shelter in a Buiji house. The occupants chased him away and he was later found dead, his body hacked to pieces.
35 There are several hundred Turkana living in Marsabit town, 40 or 50 families living together in the Milima Mitatu area, a few scattered elsewhere. There are also five families Kituruni, seven in Songa. Most of the Turkana came to work as labourers and farmhands and then, finding the area good, brought their families.
47 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISTE1)
The Borana naturally blamed the Burji and, egged on by their MP, II Falana who convinced them they 'owned' the mountain, tried to literally chase the Buiji away, particularly from the Drib Gombo area, intimidating them by destroying crops and burning houses. The tension reached such a peak that in February 1995 the army was called in to intimidate the Borana. The unpleasant results of their one-day attempt to 'control' the situation in the Dirib Gombo area are described in Chapter 5.
10December95 At about 8 o'clock in the evening there was a 'bomb' attack on the Burji farmer and business magnate Yusuf Orte Soke and his family, who live in Marsabit town. Four hand grenades were thrown into the compound, but fortunately did only minor damage to external walls and vehicles. In the Nation item on the bombing, Orte's eldest son, Samuel Soke, is referred to as 'a spokesman of the minority community, the Burji, who are natives of Mars abit.' A Borana, Kala Wako, who had been seen running from the scene of the explosion, was arrested. A little later a man named WarioJaldesa Ruya (a Waata) was found murdered in the area known as Majengo. Yusuf Orte made a sworn statement (a copy of which he showed us) saying I also wish to say that I knew one Wario Jaldesa now deceased. He used to give information to the Kenya Wildlife Service personnel on the movement of Borana baiidits. He also used to give me such information and I used to pay him. Alter he was killed, I learned that he had been forced to accompany Kala and two other people when they threw the hand grenade to my house. I learned that after the blast, it was feared I would pay him and (hal he would disclose those who had thrown the hand grenades. That is the reason why he was killed.
6Fcbruazy 96 That morning there was a particularly large group of Rendille carrying their produce from Songa to Marsabit. When the group was passing near Badassa, they were attacked and three people were killed. One was a woman called Samburi Khuyan who was carrying milk. The others were two elderly men carrying sukuma, Galah Kubes and Nyirohole Bulla.
48 ETHNIC STRUCTURE
Some of the group immediately rushed back to Songa; the homeguatds shot off their guns, other people blew horns, so everyone quickly gathered to see what had happened. Rendille warriors rushed off to take revenge. Late in the afternoon, they killed a middle-aged Borana, Borujarso Bitacha, who was herding animals near Badassa, on the shamba of then MP, JJ (James Jib) Falana who was outspoken in his support of Borana versus the Rendille and other ethnic groups (see Chapter 5). Fr Isaiah Eikalo was at the scene and later wrote Whenever a Rendille kills a male enemy, he has to castrate him. One of the victims whom the researcher saw was completely castrated with his throat cut. It was very sad. (Eikalo 1998: 49) The other victim was a Boraria girl, ArbeJaldesa, who was herding livestock a little distance away. The unhappy day was recorded in the Marsabit mission diary'by Fr Tablino: 6/2/96 This morning while he was going to Badassa along the forest road, Fr James found on the road a dead mail. He immediately reported to the police who went there and found another body. They are Rendile killed by Borana. In the night Rendille revenged in a manyatta east of Badassa and took cattle away and killed two people of Badassa.
22August96 Andrew Iltubugo, the catechist at Songa, described the next attack. It was a Thursday, midday, the week after the opening of the Kituruni Church 118 August 19961, Over 20 Boran raided our cattle which were grazing down below Songa. They made off with 78, including 3 of mine, a bull and 2 cows. The herdsboys caine running up to Songa and raised the alarm, so the warriors together with the homeguard set off in pursuit. One Rendille, Lesunkai Lentoimaga, was killed, and his brother was badly injured (but recovered). No Borana were killed, and they went off with our cows for good.
1 June 97 Andrew Iltnibugo of Songa gave us an account of the next attack, too. It was Madaraka Day, I remember. A group of our people were making their normal trek through the forest to take produce to Marsabit. It was a big group and had got spread out. Suddenly there were bullets and one
49 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
Std 4 schoolboy, Lochoroba Lerkaina, who was carrying sukuma was shot, killed dead on the spot. People reported the killing to the police who came and carried the body. A bit of a search was made for the killers - we think there were five or six people in the attack - but none were traced.
10March98 Rendille raiders went for the cattle of Manyatta Ginda, a Borana settlement. In so doing they killed Lokai Lepean, a Turkana who was burning charcoal in the bush, apparently mistaking him for a herdsman. The raiders made off with a large number of animals, but in this case the villagers subsequently got them back.
June 98 In June 1998, more people were injured in three separate incidents. Around 1 June, Borana tried to steal some Rendille animals and several people were injured, including a homeguard, Francis Umelewan Alyar, who was one of the herdsmen. In return, on 3 June, Rendille tried to steal Borana cattle grazing around Kubi Qallo. Three herdsmen, Gufu Mi, Salo Abudo and Sharemo Mi Guyo were injured while defending their animals. During the same month, there was yet another incident. A Turkana, Achimi Lorro, who had ajob as 'subordinate stafi' in the police lines at Marsabit, was shot and wounded while following fellow villagers home to Kituruni.
July98 The following month, a Rendille was killed near Songa. His in-law, Fr Elias Gaiwersi, remembers it all too well. My sister Wojire was married to a man by the name of Ilmaritan Khuyan and they were living in Songa. One day in July '98, ilmaritan's cattle were stolen and while he was following them, he was shot dead. The animals were recovered but the killer and thieves were never apprehended. The murdered man was a relative of that woman Samburi Khuyan who had been killed in February '96.
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Then followed a series of incidents in which Gabra herders in the Marsabit area were attacked and injured (one was killed) and had their animals taken. All, it is alleged, by Rendille.
6August98 A Gabra named Guyo Duba was grazing his livestock in Qachacha (a lowland, shrubby area) when Rendile rustlers attacked. They shot him in the leg, which enabled them to make off with all his animals.
14August98 A week later, down at Shura, a Gabra Algaana woman named Morme Abdub was shot and wounded while looking after some calves that were grazing some distance from the rest of the animals and their herders.
I September98 Three weeks later, Ibrae Mamo Guyo (a Gabra Odoola) was injured in the head at Gabra Scheme. The raiders escaped with all the animals, goats and cattle, he was grazing.
3September98 Rendille attacked while Wario Guyo (a Gabra Miigo) was grazing his animals down at Qachacha. He was wounded in the leg, and the raiders made off with all his animals.
21 September98 Three young Gabra were shot dead near the ej.rsa muuda, the sacred olive tree junction on the Dirib Gombo road. They had been to Marsabit for shopping and were on their way home and were resting en route. The girl, Arbe Guyo, was a Std 6 pupil from Gabra Scheme, The two boys, Guyato Sora and Hussein Dera, both Form 4 leavers, were visitors, Hussein having come from Maikona with his mother to visit her brother who lives in Songa. This gratuitous murder of three young people upset Marsabit greatly.
27October98 Just over a month later there was another incident at Gabra Scheme. While grazing his animals Duba Galgallo Au (Gabra Algaana) was shot in the left hand and the Rendille cleared off with all his animals except one donkey.
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IJanuazy 99 There was a slight lull, then a Gabra named Guyo Galgallo Ware was shot in the arm while he was grazing his animals at Kubi Qallo. The Rendile attackers made off with all his livestock except one lame cow which could not keep up with the rest. Guyo had to be taken to Wamba Hospital where his left arm was amputated. Things began getting really unpleasant again soon thereafter as two Rendille, a boy and an old man, were killed in two separate incidents, both in broad daylight and on the edge of Marsabit town.
January99 A young Rendille boy, Mi Lentilalu, from Hula Hula was shot dead while herding animals along the road at Karantina. This seemed a clear revenge kiuling for his animals were not taken. The police came and took the body to the hospital. They then returned it so the boy could be buried at home. As our informants said, 'that was all they did.' A few days later another Rendille was shot dead, an elderly man named Feretti Gambare who was looking after his sheep near Karantina, close to where the boy had been killed. His animals were not taken either. According to our informants, the police came from Marsabit, wrote their report and went back to town, leaving the man to be buried at his home in Karantina; they did nothing more. Then the Rendille began to take their own revenge.
.5 Marth 99 Rendille attacked a young Borana, Liban Gayo, while he was grazing animals around the Sagante wells, and after shooting him twice in the hand they took away all but five of the animals.
19 March 99 Three local Burji cattle dealers went to the Marsabit livestock market (at Karantina, near the Cereal Board) in the morning to buy cattle. Obviously dealers would be carrying cash. An eyewitness, Sales Warguto, gave us the following account. The Blu]i got there about 9 a.m. No cattle had yet come. As we were all waiting, three Rendille appeared, dressed as warriors but with their heads covered. One had a gun, the others spears and nmgus. The gunman shot one
52 ETHNIC STRUCTURE
cattle dealer, Gina Hitho, dead and wounded another, Huqa Gobe. The third, Dub Gunyo, managed to nm away, like all the rest of us. The killers grabbed the dead man's jacket with the money in it and ran away. His companions said he had been canying sh 50,000.
A car from Hula Hula, belonging to a Rendille named Pius, came and took the injured man to hospital (from where he was transferred to Wamba) and reported the incident to the police. The police came, made a report and 36 took the body.
When the Burji townspeople heard the news, chaos erupted in the town, especially in the market, with Burji women pelting Rendille women with stones and produce - even though it had been a Rendille who had taken the injured Burji to hospital. Police were sent in to control the situation. Many Burji went with sticks to Karantina, shouting, looking for the culprits. Eventually they dispersed of their own accord, returning to Marsabit.
20 March 99 The next day when some Rendille came to sell milk in Marsabit market (as they do daily), they were attacked with stones. Two, a girl and a woman, were injured. The police came and beat people to disperse them.
The town was tense. For a week, Rendille dared not walk alone; they were transported by lorry and/or escorted by horneguards to and from Kijiji and Hula Hula. Eventually things became calmer, but for months Rendille women could be seen selling their milk outside the main market.
21 March 99 Two days after the Buiji had been killed, Hula Hula was attacked, at about 8:30 pm. One bullet went through the tin-sheet roof of the house of a teacher, Joseph Matacho. The Rendille homeguard (there are a dozen or so in Hula Hula, and also two APs) returned fire, so the attackers ran away. No one slept for four days; people were living in fear. Though none of the attackers was actually identified, the residents of Hula Hula naturally suspect they were Buiji. The Marsabit OCPD, Paul Wangombe, said The police have received positive clues on the bandits and are pursuing them. (Standard 11/3/99)
36 By the time this was published in the Standard (11/3/99), the names had become Jiru Oda and Ruka Gobe.
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But as usual, the police failed to apprehend the bandits. The Rendille assumed they could get away with murder, and before the month was out another Borana was shot dead.
ijII Sorajarso was killed while grazing his sheep and goats at Malka Dimtu (down from Goro Rukesa), and his animals were all taken, allegedly of course by Rendille.
lOApnJ99 Meanwhile, Borana stole 84 Rendille milking cows from Gutus, near Logologo. They whisked them past Shura, then towards Bubisa. The police went to Logologo, but said their diesel was finished so they could not follow the cattle. The DC 'became strict' and held a baraza (see Chapter 5). He told the chiefs that those animals had to be found and returned, otherwise they (the chiefs) would be sacked and animals would be confiscated from the areas where they passed. So the tracks were followed and the animals found to be in Sagante.
18Apr11 99 A 12-year-old Gabra Miigo schoolboy named Adan Mi was shot at his home in Marsabit town, in what appeared to have been an attempted robbery, and later died in hospital. (A Konitu Borana, Dansa Adan, was subsequently arrested for the boy's murder; see Chapter 6).
19Apr11 99 Some homeguards went to try to recover the above 84 cattle, but only managed to get two cows, a few bells and some clothes. The Rendille waited. Despite the DC's ultimatum, no cattle were returned. So
lOjune 99 There was a clash between Borana and Rendille from Logologo grazing their cattle around Kubi Qallo. The Rendille say that the Borana started it, uying to lift their cattle and in the process killing a boy of about 16, called Leneepe. Then the Rendille warriors entered the fray. One, Khuyan, was badly wounded,and as he was being carried to hospital he died. A third Rendille, Lekapina, was injured, and so was a young Borana, Born Galgallo
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Wako. Both Lekapina and Born were taken to hospital where we saw them. The Borana took some cattle but later they were returned. Others (ie, Borana) say that the Rendille started the scrap, wanting to take the Borana animals as revenge for those which had been stolen by Borana in April and which had not, despite intervention by the authorities, been returned. The Borana also claim that this attack by Rendille was part of a move to push them (the Borana) out of what the Rendille believe to be their rightful grazing land.
There has also been considerable scrapping, sometimes lethal, around and about Kargi, a well complex that has become the 'capital' of Rendilleland. We now turn back to summarize the incidents there.
1990 Fr Elias gave us an account in which another brother-in-law was killed. My eldest sister, Surtuma, was married to Ilmemben Bulyar. Her husband was killed by Sornalis when he was in fora with his goats in a place called Gutus (near Logologo). Some young boys were present and saw, before they fled. His animals were stolen. No action was ever taken, even though Ilmemben's younger brother Samwel Nitoi Bulyar was the MP for Rendille at the time. Meanwhile, in 1989, after several years of relative peace, there was an outbreak of clashes between the Rendille and the Gabra. The clashes reached a climax in April 1992 when there were three separate incidents involving the theft of Rendille camels from the Kargi area. On one day 100 Rendille camels were stolen from one place, 200 from another (but with no casualties on either side). Then three fora were attacked. In the one, a man named Mboi Ormakhayo and his six-year-old son were killed and their goats and camels were stolen. Another 100 goats and sheep were stolen from another Ibra, and 20 milk camels were taken from a third. Some days later, 1500 camels were stolen from the Hedaad, the desert area to the east of Kargi, but without any loss of life.
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Then some animals were stolen from Burahale, a hill west of Kargi. In that raid, three children were killed, as well as a man (Ngutai Ohele), while two people were injured (a teacher named Joseph Orkhor Matacho and a homeguard, Luhulo Mele Dubsahai), but the animals were retrieved. In another incident, 600 camels as well as many goats, sheep and donkeys were stolen from Ririma, between Kargi and Korr, by - it is said - 500 armed Boraria. One man, Harchawa, and his 14-year-old son Dahichoya were killed In this case the army intervened successfully and got the animals back, though at the cost of the life of one down-country soldier. Then 400 camels were stolen from Ogicho, near Hula Hula. In this raid, one old mother, Gambare, was killed, and one old man, Gaiwab, and also a homeguard named Selengei. Again, the raid was so massive that police from Marsabit were sent to reinforce the Kargi APs, with the result that all the camels were retrieved.
13May92 There was a light between Rendille and Gabra around Kargi that went on through the night. It was raining and no one seems very clear as to what happened, but one person is said to have been killed. It was too much! A reconciliation meeting was held in 1993, and each side promised to bring back the camels they had stolen from the other. But the tentative peace was soon broken.
18,24, 25Januaiy93 Gabra from Bubisa went to steal animals from Rendille of Oltorot and Kargi. They fought twice, and eight or nine people were killed. In 1994 there was another reconciliation meeting, and the Gabra returned 100 camels they had stolen from the Rendille. This meeting was in good part the work of the two MPs, Dr Bonaya Godana for the Gabra and Robert Kochalle (who had replaced Samwel Ntitoi Bulyar) for the Rendille. Slowly tension between the Borana./Gabra and the Rendille/Samburu around Marsabit mountain began to ease. (Some coimect this to the arrest of two young Ethiopians on 25 April, see Chapter 4.) And by the latter part of the year, although the foot-convoy was still operating, people were also walking freely along the Marsabit-Songa track. ETHNIC STRUCTURE
Tension then shifted to a different arena - Marsabit town itself.
12August99 The Borana businessman Qala Wako Bere was gunned down by two men on a motorcycle just after dark. There was no attempt at robbery. It was an open secret that Qala was an active supporter of the OLF, acting as a treasurer, and the grapevine had it that he was killed because he had been diverting OLF funds to his own use. We were told that at Qala's funeral, the ex-MP JJ Falana, himself a Borana, cautioned the crowd not to blame other tribes, 'You are eating yourselves like a cat eats her kitten'. However, after a couple of weeks the murder theory changed and it was being said that Qala had been killed by Gabra, maybe in revenge for the young Gabra Miigo schoolboy, Adan Au, who had been shot by Borana in April. A hit-list of Gabra was allegedly circulated. Of the three men picked up for questioning, two were Gabra chiefs, the other a Burji businessman. All were released. A Gabra delegation went to the DC to complain that their name was being 'spoiled' and said that if the Borana would provide hard information, they themselves would find the culprits. The Borana apparently did not respond, the police did nothing further, and the murderer(s) have still not been apprehended. Tension between Gabra and Borana has kept increasing.
15 October99 An elderly Meru tobacco-seller named M'Athura (Nthura) Kiarie Ntorekanya was shot dead just after dark close to his stall near the market. There was no attempt at robbery. Two Meru were held for questioning but then released; the murderer has still not been apprehended. Some people we talked with insisted that this was simply a business murder; the old man was killed because 'he had too many customers' or that it involved a plot of land. But most people we talked with were convinced that this apparently harmless old man who had been living in Marsabit for 28 years had been murdered in cold blood because he had let it be known that he had recognized Qala Wako's killers as they passed him on their motorcycle.
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3November99 Less than three weeks later there was a third murder in town, one which left all Marsabit stunned. Sora Qere, a Gabra pediatrician, was shot dead just after dusk outside his clinic near the market. There was no attempt at robbery. People were deeply shocked, for Sora Qere was greatly liked and respected by people of all ethnic groups and was frequently asked to mediate disputes. (He had become chairman of the peace committee in the time of the Buiji/Rendille/Borana clashes, after the death of Bishop Adano in the helicopter crashofJuly 1996 (Chapter 4). The crowd that turned out for his funeral (including Dr Bonaya, a personal friend, who flew up from Nairobi) was probably the biggest the town has seen, with members of all ethnic communities flocking to pay their last respects. Although Dr Bonaya did not hold a public security meeting (as the media reported), he did take the opportunity to make a plea at the funeral for the police to bring the culprits to trial before ethnic tensions exploded (see Chapter 5). The grapevine sprouted complex tendrils. Many people saw a link between the three killings, especially as all took place at the same time, around 7:30 pm. As noted in Chapter 4, some people say Sora Qere was killed in revenge for it allegedly being Gabra who had murdered Qala Wako; his name was on the list circulated. It was not by chance that the three men picked up for questioning (and later released) were all Borana. But then the murder theory changed to a more political one. What we heard more consistently was that Sora Qere was killed because he was so well liked, because 'Someone' was intentionally stirring up interethnic hatred, that it was part of an overall policy of the Boraria to clear the mountain which they say is 'theirs', first targeting Rendille, now trying 'to force Gabra back down to the desert'. By the time we got back to Marsabit three weeks later, the tension in town - who will be nextP - was still palpable. Gabra were particularly worried, saying the hit-list was still circulating. Fortunately, the long overdue rains had come and were cooling the place down a little.
CLASHES IN THE MOYALE AREA During a drought period, Degodia had been moving west into what Borana considered their grazing land. Since Degodia are camel people while Borana are cattle people, the livestock was not in direct conflict, and a sort
58 ETHNIC STRUCTURE of a truce was in effect. But the Borana began worrying that the Degodia were making themselves too much at home, and tensions arose, 37
26October96 Mohammed Abdullah Farah, Mohammed 011oro Elmi, Buluk Durow Elmi, Aden Mohammed Abikar and Mi Abdullahi Abdirahman - murdered and their livestock stolen. According to the 1996/97 report, they were killed by bandits and 275 head of livestock were stolen. When we investigated further, we were told the victims were Kenyan Degodia from the village of Hassan Gedi, near DibuDoke which is on the border between Dambala Fachana and Tuka, and that they were killed while in Ethiopia by Ethiopian tabaka (homeguards) .—'who were Ethiopian Borana. The number of animals stolen was much fewer, which indicates the incident was a serious tribal clash rather than simple rustling. Nevertheless, things remained relatively peaceful between the Borana and the Degodia. Then a Borana who was travelling through was killed neat Bori by Degodia. The elders of both groups held a joint meeting, and the Degodia were fined 30 camels, and warned by the Boraiia to keep the peace.
May97 But someone broke it. Sometime around May, two (some say three) Borana lads were shot dead while out herding in the bush between Turbi and Walda. (We have been unable to get the date or names.) As there were no witnesses, the culprits were never identified, so the killings sparked off a round of accusations and counteraccusations with the Borana claiming the boys were killed by Degodia; the Degodia saying they had been killed by Gabra. 'Whatever the truth of the matter, the Degodia were the next to suffer.
37 This was nothing novel. Trench (1993:56) quotes the following description of the wells of Wajir around 1910. Degodia and Ogaden Somalis whose modus operandi resembled that of the cuckoo. Begging for water in a drought, one or two Somali families would gain a toe- hold as 'shegats' (guests, proteges) of the Boran, Ajuran and Sakuye who owned the wells. They would then gradually call in their friends and relations, and eventually elbow their hosts out.
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SJune 97 Two Degodia boys herding camels near Golole were shot. One boy was killed outright, the other, Jibril Billow, had his arm shattered. A message arrived at Sololo Hospital well after dark, and the young Italian doctor, Enrica Pazè, with whom we were then staying, herself drove out with the ambulance to collect the injured boy. The boy remained in hospital for many wceks. He told us the attackers were Ethiopian tabaka (which means they were probably Borana). There were no more overt incidents for a while, but things were simmering under the surface of that thorn-covered landscape.
Mid-98 There was a three-way clash between Borana(Degodia and Gabra who were all grazing their animals around Ambalo. We have not been able to ascertain exactly what happened, (Our Borana informants say the Degodia started it.) The facts given to us are as follows. One Degodia boy, about thirteen years old, was found dead, 'slaughtered like an animal' by having his throat cut. The Borana reported this to the local chief, but the Degodia refused to report it. That night, the Gabra 'left in a rush'. The Degodia came with guns and made off with Borana cattle. Some were recovered, but 24 are still missing.
22 September 98 Tensions exploded with a vengeance on 22 September 98. On that day a small lorry making one of its regular trips between Moyale and Sololo was ambushed on the highway on its way from Moyale, at the curve known as Funariyata, 30 km from Moyale. The owner/driver, a Gabra Miigo called Mohammed Dadacha, was killed. The 9 passengers, all Borana, were made to lie on the ground and then each was shot dead with several bullets through the head. The only survivor was an 8-year-old girl, hidden under the body of her mother and presumably thought to be dead. Nothing was stolen, not even the money from the victims' pockets. People were horrified. A close relative of one of the victims gave us the details. Two army lorries arrived on the spot almost immediately (which made people suspicious). The driver of one, a man named Halake, was a Borana, who was able to talk to the little girl. Against the commander's
Met ETHNIC STRUCTURE
orders, he drove her directly to the Moyale Hospital. Meanwhile, the people who had gathered, including armed homeguards, had found the footprints of the attackers. When they tried to follow them, the army stopped them, saying 'that is our business'. One of the innocent victims was Philip Mala Galgalo, Administrator of the Sololo Hospital and brother of the recently elected MP, Dr Gurrach Galgalo. Others were Ibrae Dido who was a teacher at Anona Primary School, and a Moyale mechanic named Kome, as well as the girl's mother, Mariaii Shongolo. It just so happened that the Minister for State Security in the Office of the Pr'sidcnt, (Rtd) Major Marsden Madoka, was visiting Moyale. A little later the same (lay, he and the TV crew covering his visit went to the scene of the massacre. The Hon. Madoka 'made no comment to console the angry residents of the area.' The girl, Nasibo Ibrahiin, was only slightly wounded in the arm. She said the attackers had been eight; six in army unilbrrn, one in trousers, one in a kikoi. It was the man in the kikoi who had given the orders. Knowing that the attackers would be tearful she could identify them, Nasibo's people feared for her life, and wisely kept guard over her. At midnight the second night, two Degodia came to the hospital looking for her. One was captured and put in custody. However, he had a sister in the police force who engineered his release. The public outcxy was so great that she was quickly transferred. The most consistent reason for this massacre that we heard was the following. The driver was a retired army corporal known as M.D. Survivor. He had seen militaiy lorries from the camp near Moyale delivering foodstuffs to Degodia and realized that the OC, a Somali, was diverting military supplies to the Degodia. He reported this to the police. Someone overheard and telephoned the commander. He immediately sent loyal troops to kill the driver. They killed all the passengers (they thought) simply so there would be no witnesses to the murder of the ironically named M.D. Survivor. Another version has it that M.D. Survivor had been instrumental in thwarting the allocation of land near Moyale to Degodia. The two are not mutually contradictory. The Borana and Sakuye had also complained about land illegally allocated to the Degodia by the then DC, Mr Osare, but
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he only turned a deaf ear to their complaints, (Although a Luhya by birth, Osare had been raised in Garissa where his father was a civil servant, and so was assumed to have close contacts with Somalis.) Despite the testimony of the girl and considerable angry pressure by the many relatives of the victims, the Moyale authorities never followed up the case. As one of the relatives bitterly wrote us Unfortunately, the fact that the Funaan Nyaata Massacre went practically unnoticed by the media shows how high the level of human suffering has become which we have learnt to accept as 'normal' and that even such an inhuman massacre, as long as it takes place in some remote district such as Moyale, no longer has any news value, even when witnessed by a Minister in charge of State Security himself. The Minister claims that the massacre of the nine Borari/Gabra at Funaan Nyaata were by Degodia bandits (Nation 23/6/99). Why then did he fail to take any action to bring the culprits to justice? This is how corruption at high level is fueling ethnic violence in Kenya, especially in marginal areas.
The Borana (and Gabra) were outraged, and thefrrevenge made front-page headlines. 38
24 October98 The Borana mobilized with great efficiency, gathering in groups in several areas. On 24 October several hundred well-armed men, swooped down on the hundreds of Degodia clustered around the wells and little trading centres of Bagalla and of El Das in southeastern Moyale District, close to the border with Wajir District (in NEP), about 80 kilometres south of the border with Ethiopia. The ,Borana planned and executed their dawn attack so well that they managed to massacre dozens of Degodia while losing only a handful of their own men, and to make off with hundreds, if not thousands, of head of livestock.
38 Again, there was nothing new. As Trench describes (1993:138), in the 1930 s, 'Degodia from Wajir district began watering their stock in the Uaso Nyiro well west of the Somali Line, in Boran territory land] thirteen Boran had been murdered at the watering points.' He then goes on to quote Jack Clive, DC Isiolo. IThe Boran] said they were part of an army of five hundred and had decided to kill every Degodia in existence to avenge the thirteen Boran murdered.
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The first report was a relatively innocuous small, page 3 item three days after the event. About 36 people were killed and an unknown number injured when bandits attacked a pastoralist manyatta at Dagala [sic], along the Wajir/Moyale border on Sunday.... taking away an unspecified number of livestock ... latest information ... put the death toll at 60 people. (Nation 28/10/98) Two days later it hit the headlines with 300 feared dead in bandit raids Up to 300 people were feared dead yesterday after bandits swept across the frontier from Ethiopia.. . . Fifty-two villagers - mostly teenage girls - were kidnapped and an estimated 15,500 cattle stolen and driven back towards the border. . . . Hundreds of people were still missing, believed injured, five days after the massacre. . . . Targets of the raids were mainly Degodias.. . . The 500 raiders - described variously as 'Omoro Isici bandits' and 'Ethiopian militiamen' struck along the remote Wajir- Marsabit border on Sunday, plundering villages at Budada, Gerari, Tuli and Muduma. (Nation 28/10/98) And the incident remained front page news for days. By November the official death toll 'still stood at 142' while the number of animals stolen was markedly reduced to '1,785 cattle and 2,075 camels' (Standard 3111198). The Borana we spoke with claimed their side had killed only 60-70 Degodia (all men), abducted only one girl (taken by a man whose sister had been abducted by Degodia in Neghelle, Ethiopia), and made off with only 7-8000 animals, while they themselves had had just 6 men killed 39 Although it had been initially reported that the 'bandits swept across the frontier from Ethiopia into North East Kenya', soon North Eastern Provincial Commissioner Maurice Makhanu and his Provincial Police Officer Jeremiah Matagaro distanced themselves from any responsibility concerning the massacre. They said the raiders crossed the border from Eastern Province and massacred their victims in the same province. (Standani4/1 1/98)
39 One reason it has been impossible to determine the number of dead with any accuracy is because, according to Islamic regulations, the bodies were buried the same day and could not be exhumed.
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One wonders why the NEP officials insisted the raider 'crossed the border' when, as they themselves stated, the massacre took place in Eastern Province. The provenance of the raiders is born out by the fact that the raiders were last seen driving the animals away to Sololo, Tambala, Fajan f sic, for Dambala Fachanal and Turbi areas of Moyale. (Standard 3/11/98) Yet although government even deployed aircraft to the area, no trace of the stolen animals was found, Wajir West MP Adan Keynan (Sauna) said it was a shame for the Government with all its machinery to fail to recover even a single animal more than a month after the massacre. (Standard 14/12/98) As we have seen, it was immediately claimed that the Degodia had been 'massacred by militiamen suspected to be Oromo liberation Front' (Siandard3 1/10/99), or at least that 'the Borana had support from Ethiopian rebels' (Nation 1/11/98). Yet Makhanu subsequently told the committee sent to investigate the Bagalla massacre (as it came to be known) that it was mainly 'a dispute over, pasture' and he remained non-committal when called upon... to disclose who the raiders were. (Standard 26/11/98) We shall return to this massacre later, when we discuss 'The roles of the Kenya government and of the nation's media'. The Bagalla massacre provoked small but no less vicious repercussions. On 11 November the headmaster of the Sheikh Ali High School in Mandera, a Borana named Hussein Jaldesa Tacho, and his wife, Hawa Lull, were murdered in cold blood, apparently in retaliation for the El Das massacre the month before. Several suspects were arrested, but as far as we krow, no one has been convicted.
CLASHES IN THE NORTH HORR AREA Things are no better farther west, in North Horr District. Much of the northwestern part of this area was a no-man's land between Dassanetch and Gabra. The creation of Sibiloi National Park in effect formalized this, making a neutral area where neither group was allowed to graze. Nevertheless, the Dassanetch claim the waterholes of Derati, Ilgimirr and Kokai are traditionally theirs, and when the Gabra move into Sibiloi Park during droughts, clashes are bound to occur.
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1998 Dassanetch raided Gabra who were in fora near Kubi Fora, close to the museum there. They managed to steal only a few animals., and those were mostly sick. No Dassanetch were killed, but two Gabra women were. The young Dassanetch warrior we talked to who had taken part in the raid said that was a mistake; it was dark and they had thought they were men.
1994 Dassanetch raided Gabra in fora near the Sibilot wells, and made off with, they claim, over 2000 animals. But then they saw a plane flying over 'so we were afraid and ran, leaving the animals'. In that raidone Dassanetch was killed, and 4 Gabra.
23 March 97 The most disastrous raid in North Horr District in recent years took place at Kokai, in the northern part of Sibioi National Park. This is an area claimed as traditional grazing land by both Gabra and Dassanetch. Due to serious drought, many Gabra had taken their cattle, sheep, goats and donkeys (but not camels) there. Some Dassanetch were already in fora nearby. The two groups have been raiding back and forth since time immemorial, and this precipitated yet another attack. It made newspaper headlines and editorials for many days, starting on 25 March in the Nation with 36 massacred in border raid and continuing the following day with 18 die as police engage bandits Since the raid was so vicious, and has had such repercussions, we went to considerable lengths to listen to the several sides of the story and to discover what the government did, or did not, do to ensure that its citizens could graze their animals more peacefully in the future. First we talked with an elderly Gabra, Abudo Tullu, who was at the Kokai fora when it was attacked (interviewed in North Hon on25 May 1999). We were around 200 men and boys (just 2 or 3 women). We were in fora with about 2900 cattle, 16,000 goats and sheep and a lot of donkeys, about 470. We had gone there all together, as a group, for security, and we had been there about three months. There were some Dassanetch a little north of us, and some Turkana in between. We'd heard from the Turkana that the Dassanetch were planning a raid, so we were keeping
Me THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
careful guard. Then those Dassanetch shifted north to Ileret, so we thought the danger was over. But then they returned and attacked us. They were a combination of Dassanetch from Ethiopia and from Kenya. The attack took place at 5 in the morning. We immediately returned fire, but the Dassanetch were very well armed and we were outnumbered with guns. In the fighting the animals panicked and headed north, the Dassanetch followed them and we followed the Dassanetch. We got some of our animals back and detailed a group to herd them back to the fora, while the rest of us continued to follow the Dassanetch with the rest of our animals. (The Dassanetch shot dead our five loading camels, since they have no use for camels.) In that fight in the fora a lot of people were killed. About 50 Gabra and 43 Dassanetch. Another 26 or 27 Gabra were wounded, some badly. It was the Father fAntonyj from the mission here who came to help, with the nurses from the dispensary. If it hadn't been for him, a Jot more people would have died. The KWS post radioed the police at Ileret who in turn radioed the police at North Hon who relayed the news to the Catholic Mission, which runs the only health facility in North Hon. Fr Antony described the rescue operation to us. It was Palm Sunday and we got the news just as we were fmishing our procession. It is 200 km from North Hon to Kokai. We arrived there at 8 pm. When we saw how many and how serious were the casualties, we radioed AMREF. In the morning they sent up a large plane which flew the nine worst injured to Wamba Hospital. Meanwhile we had sent about 25 others down to our North Hon clinic in our lorry with two of the nurses. There were still seven people who were in serious condition. AMREF had made their rescue flight free of charge, but could not do a second one gratis. We heard a military helicopter had come to Marsabit so I phoned the DC IMuli Malombel to ask him to have it fly to Kokai and take out those remaining seriously injured. I kept phoning him the whole day, but he took refuge of being 'in a meeting'. Finally, I realized he was going to do nothing, so we fixed the Land Rover so that it could carl',r the three men who could not sit lying in the back, with another four sitting, and the nurse. When we got to North Hon, Fr Hubert took over and drove them to Wamba.
66 ETHNIC STRUCTURE
We wrote an angry letter of complaint about the DC. He was said to be a drunkard and had been drunk that day. He was transferred almost immediately. By Sunday evening the raiders had got the animals north of Ileret, and the following day took them to water and graze at Lokwaria, the lakeshore area just on the border. Abuslo Tullu continued his account. That very day the raiders passed Ileret, with us following. We reported to the police. More Gabra came to help us. Some came with vehicles. The police got reinforcements from North Horr and Sabarei. We joined together and went after the Dassaiietch and the animals, which they'd taken to water and graze at the lake just south of the border. We started fighting again. More than 20 people were killed, mostly soldiers, some Gabra. We were defeated, so we came back. Yes, the army came, too, in helicopters, but they did nothing. We then went to Ileret to get the Dassanetch side of the story. Some Dassanetch claimed the raid was in revenge for an earlier raid on them by Gabra in which 70 goats were stolen (Nation 28/3/97). Michael Batterman, a missionary with the long-established AIC Mission in Ileret who speaks fluent Dassanetch and was there at the time of the raid had talked with his people and told it like this. The Gabra stole some sheep and goats, about 40, in the Kokai area, from one of our translators. He had no gun, and was not the sort to go chasing himself anyway, so he and friends went to the police and said, 'we give you 6 days to do something about this'. They'd followed the footprints, and they figured that most of the stolen animals had been eaten almost immediately. There was no action by the police, so on the 7th day they attacked. As other people pointed out, it would have taken more than six days to organize an attack on the scale of Kokai. And the account as related below bears this out, since it makes no mention of any stolen goats. We located two young Dassanetch warriors who had taken part in the raid. The following is their account. How many Dassanetch took part in the raid? We were about 300 who took part, young men, a mixture of age-sets. Many were from Ethiopia. How many were the Gabra? We didn't know, we just knew they were many.
67 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
Why did we attack? Because the Gabra came from their own grazing area to Kokal and began talking that they would drive all us Dassanetch back to Ethiopia. [NB. The warriors said nothing at all about Gabra having stolen some Dassanetch goats.1 No, neither we nor the Gabra had permission to take our animals to graze inside the Park, we just went. We consider the Derati Hills to be our grazing area. How was the raid organized? We young men, we organized the raid ourselves. The first time we decided to go to Kokai, the elders made us go back. After we returned, we waited for two days, then we went again. We surrounded the Gabra during the night. Our plan was to attack when it was light, but before dawn, about 5 am, one Gabra saw us and gave the alarm by shooting in the air. So we had to start the raid early. Was the main purpose o steal livestock or to kill people? Our main purpose was to kill people, to chase the Gabra away. And then of course we would get the animals. We divided into two groups, one tofight the Gabra, the other to take the animals away. I was in the fighting group, S. was in the one driving the animals away. The fighting went on until about 11 o'clock.We lost four warriors killed there at Kokai, another two near Laga Ilgimmir 118 km south of Ilereti. Not even qne other person was wounded. How many animals did we get? Cows, not more than 500. Sheep and goats, about 5000 but we decided to leave most behind, we weren't so interested. Donkeys, 100-200. No catiiels. We divided the animals as soon as we got them away. I got 3 cows, S. got 7. Each person took his own animals, or brothers and friends joined, and made his own way north. A lot of us went along the lakeshore, some went inland. We heard that the Gabra were still following us. We warned people in the inanyattas, and they all fled north too. We all went on the other side of the border, to the Omo Delta. This was all done that same night [Sunday night].
And then came stage two, the massacre at Lokwaria. The army belatedly sent helicopters (see Chapter 5) which spotted a large herd of cattle at the lakeshore area of Lokwaria. Not seeing any people, they reported the stolen animals had been abandoned. Vehicles took 26 police, APs and homeguards and dropped them off there. When they got to the lakeshore, knee-deep in mud, they found themselves ambushed by the raiders who had simply hidden in the bushes and under the cattle when the helicopter flew over. Sixteen of the security forces were killed, one injured. Several civilians were killed, too, ETHNIC STRUCTURE
including the Gabra councillor for North Hon. The two Dassanetch warriors told the story from their side. We had all gone across the border, but one mzee stayed at the border, at Lokwaria. He hid there, with his few animals. The Gabra came with private vehicles from North Hoff, Kalacha, Maikona, plus one police vehicle. The mzee tried to hide his children in the lake. The Gabra shot at him but he retaliated. That mzee was tough and decided to fight off the Gabras and police. The other Dassanetch nearby heard the firing and ran to help. They saw the Gabras and police running, so they blocked the path to Lokwaria behind them, then they started shooting at the Gabras and police. It was a very tough fight. We chased them right into the water. As we were fighting in the water, we saw the helicopter fly overhead, so we hid. As soon as it went away we started fighting again. We shot a lot of police, and a lot of them drowned. Fifteen police were killed. No Dassarietch were killed, just one wounded, and he is now ok. With that, the police and the Gabra gave up. The Gabra claim that the Dassanetch disappeared across the border with all the animals, and none has ever been recovered; they say they lost 2000 cattle, 10,000 sheep and goats, and 350 donkeys. And the live camels shot dead. But, as the Dassanetch pointed out, Later the Ethiopian government forced us to return the cattle and also the guns we had taken from the police we had killed at Lokwaria. We had to return a lot of cattle. Most were not the actual ones stolen, but some were. I had to return both the two I had got, S. had to return five of his seven. Michael Batterman confirmed he had seen cattle being returned, walking down the lakeshore below the mission station, but he could not estimate how many. There was a strong suspicion that the Ethiopian government knew more than it disclosed. Dr T.A. Ibsa of Moyale reminded people in his letter to the press As the area Member of Parliament rightfully put it, the Ethiopian government must have had prior knowledge of the attack. (Standard 14/5/97) The Kokai massacre has had many repercussions.
69 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
The immediate one was that the few Dassanetch students in North Horr were terrorized, some thirty in the primary school, one Form 4 student and a school leaver working as a lab technician in the secondary school. The latter, Richard Esho, described the scene. The Gabra women of the town came to the schools and abused us and threw stones, so we were taken to the police lines for our own protection. I stayed there one day, then returned to Ileret with a police lony and I've been here ever since. The other students spent about two weeks in the police lines. Fr Hubert tried to help, and saw they got food. Finally the DC came and calmed the Gabra down, so the Dassanetch students were able to go back to school. After the massacre, a contingent of GSU was stationed at Ileret to bolster the police, and are still there, about 20 men. They seem to have a better relationship with the Dassanetch than do the police, whom the Dassanetch complain harass them. The GSU also have a functioning vehicle. Another immediate reaction was that the Gabra threatened to 'fmish' any lorry taking supplies, especially famine relief, to Ileret. The mission vehicles were not threatened and had no problem, but private transporters were loath to risk their vehicles (to say nothing of their lives), so the threat effectively closed the road. Fortunately a few transporters were not easily intimidated, as 'Aku' Mangia of Marsabit told us. After I'd taken three lorries of relief food to Ileret, in 1997, alter Kokai, a man came to my shop here in Marsabit and warned me to stop. I got annoyed and said I was a businessman and would do business with anyone who could pay me. I reported the threat to the police and DC, 40 and I ye heard nothing more of threats! The Kokai massacre also caused the Gabra in North Horr to turn on the local Turkana. As mentioned above, there were some Turkana in fora at Kokai too; several dozen families located between the Gabra and the Dassanetch. The Gabra say the Turkana made friends with the Dassanetch, slaughtered animals for them and even sold them guns. They believe the Dassanetch told the Turkana about the impending raid, and the Turkana not only kept the secret but took part in the raid. It is said that they were
40 It si noteworthy that Mangia si an Asian (one of the very few still residing and working in northern Kenya) and therefore is somewhat 'out of the loop' of tribal animosities.
70 ETHNIC STRUCTURE responsible for killing most of the youngsters in the fora. Since Kokai there have been several unpleasant incidents concerning Turkana and Gabra in and around North Hon.
14July98 Two Gabra herdsmen were shot by Turkana at Sinafur, an area west of Gus. One died on the spot, the other at Marsabit hospital. No livestock were taken.
19September98 Gabra killed a 12-year-old Turkana boy who was in fora near Hurran Hura, a well about 45 km north of North Horr, and stole the animals he was herding. The animals were recovered.
15Auust 98 A young Turkana, Lobook Lowoto, about 20 years old, was shot near Horri Dika, the 'small pools' a few kilometres from North Horr, and livestock were taken. His father, Layout, was intensely disliked in North Horr, for he had a reputation of having stolen many Gabra animals, and was abusive and insulting to other people, even to elderly men. The young man, shot in the abdomen, was flown to Wamba Hospital. He was discharged on 30 September - leaving an unpaid bill of sh 10,350.
14April99 Around midnight men armed with knives attacked a Turkana family as they were sleeping outside their house in North Horr. One woman, a daughter of the above Layout, was injured, And a 7-year-old girl, Loparan Epul, was killed. (She was taken to the dispensary but died there.) Footprints led to the arrest of 3 suspects, 2 Gabra and a Boran. The main suspect, one of the Gabra, is in custody in Marsabit; the other two are 'under surveillance'. Layout and his family have left town.
We now turn to another, nearby, arena of ethnic conflict. The Hamar Koke, a group of some 18,000 agro-pastoralists living east of the lower Omo across the border in Ethiopia, cross over into Kenya for their share or raiding for livestock and for prestige. The following incidents were brought to our attention.
71 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
Apn196 A month after the Balessa Demoghe attack (see Chapter 4), there was another attack on Gabra and Borana in fora, this time a little farther west, in the desert area known as Tabal north of Sabarei, extending up to Lake Stephanie (Chew Bahir). This raid was made by Hamar Koke warriors in two simultaneous dawn attacks, one on the Gabra, the other on the Borana who were about 10 kin away. No one was killed but 10,000 cattle were reportedly stolen. The issue was reported to the Ethiopian government, but there was little satisfaction. Fewer than 200 cattle were recovered by them and sent back. The Gabra and Borana we spoke with are convinced that the Hamar Koke raid was organized by the Ethiopian army becausejust before the attack they had seen a vehicle, rare in those parts, moving around the area as if reconnoitering.
March 99 Near Arabtirs, the waterholes about 8 km southwest of Sabarei (and about 22 km northeast of Buluk), an elderly Gabra named Isaqo Abudo was killed by Hamar Koke and his cattle stolen. Fellow Gabra followed the killers and got the animals back. The Gabra complain that since the Kenya government does not allow them to carry arms, they are particularly susceptible to attacks by the Dassanetch and Hamar Koke who have easy access to guns from Ethiopia. After 'repeated attacks from Merrile IDassanetchi bandits', the Turkana across the lake had been making the Same complaint, for on 30 July 1999 Kenya police reservists [homeguards] in Todenyang area near the border with Ethiopia have been issued with 10 more guns and 600 rounds of ammunition in an effort to intensify security.. . . The government [had givenJ more than 100 guns to home guards in the area but they migrated to other parts of the district leaving the people defenseless against attacks from the Merrile [Dassanetchj bandits from Ethiopia. (Nation 2/8/99) The Gabra, however, have had no such support. They do, however, have an MP who is currently Kenya's Foreign Minister, Although a well-attended five-day 'Peace and Reconciliation' meeting between the Gabra and Dassanetch was held at Allia Bay in July 1999 (see
72 ETHNIC STRUCTURE
Chapter 6), the peace was soon broken by two 'hit-and-run' incidents just two weeks and 20 km apart, in which Dassanetch were the victims.
2November99 A Dassanetch youth, Hichaba Lokorimoe, was shot in the leg while herding sheep and goats around Karari (25 km southeast of Ileret). Alone and unarmed, he was unable to put up any defense, but even so no animals were stolen. The boy, a resident of the Chief's Camp in Ileret, was taken to the Ileret dispensary (his wound was not serious) and the matter was reported to the Ileret police/GSU. He identified his attackers as a group of seven or so Gabra, but no action was taken to apprehend anyone.
17November99 A Dassanetch man named Laban Naguno was shot dead while resting alone near the well of Ilgimirr, 17 km south of Ileret. Not only was he emasculated but one hand and one leg were cut off. Other Dassanetch from the fora camp nearby heard the shots, found the mutilated body and set off in furious pursuit; there was an exchange of gunfire but the attackers escaped. No animals were stolen. The brutal killing was reported to the police/GSU at Ileret that same evening. The following day they went to the scene but took no further action except to alert the police at Dukana. The Dassanetch say the attackers were Gabra; the Gabra claim the killing was done by Boraria. (See Chapter 6.)
73 4 The international border and the Oromo factor
The Kenya-Ethiopia border is, officially, an 'open' one. When the British and Ethiopians drew the line, ethnic groups, particularly the Gabra and the Borana, were split. Virtually all Borana, and many Gabra, have relatives on the other side of the border. The two countries have a long-standing agreement that their civiliancitizens may freely cross the border without passports and visas. All that is legally required is an identity card. 4' This was intended to enable kinfolk to visit one another and to facilitate the movement of the pastoralists back and forth to their traditional wells (which they themselves, or their ancestors, had dug), grazing areas and ritual sites. Unfortunately, it also facilitates the 'escape' of rustlers from private citizens they have raided and 'rebels' from government authorities of whom they have run afoul. The problem has been there ever since the border was drawn.42 It has come to the fore again in recent months as the Ethiopian government has stepped up its attempts to defeat the Oromo Liberation Front, which it has defined as a 'rebel movement' and thus outlawed within the realm of its jurisdiction, ie, within Ethiopian borders. Kenya has never sought to restrict its citizens from crossing into Ethiopia, or to prevent citizens of Ethiopia from entering Kenyan territory. The present Ethiopian government officially takes the same stand; since the fall
41 Con-apt registration officers do a flounshing business in issumg.ID cards. On 21 September the Office of the President announced that registration veiling committees in North-Eastern and Eastern provinces have been reconstituted to make sure that only Kenyans get the cards. (Nation 22/9/99.) N.B. It was, as usual, those two provrnces that were singled out for special, harsh attention. 42 In 1929 the DC Moyale, Reece, wrote to the officer-rn-charge Another boy was murdered in Moyale tonight. This is the fifth case of its kind during the past three months. Two of the murderers are actually living with one of the Governor of Ithe Ethiopian province oil Borana's own subordinates. -. I and my brother officers and 60 police constables in a British post are sitting here quite helplessly with the disembowelled body of an innocent child a few hundred yards away, while the murderer is nearby in the territory of a so-called friendly and civilized nation, where he can boast of his prowess. (French 1993:134.)
74 INTERNATIONAL IORDER AND OROMO FACTOR of Mengistu, the border has never been officially closed. But at various times, the Ethiopian army takes matters into its own hands and unilaterally closes the border, as has been the case since January 1999. Before turning to the complexities of the cross-border guerilla war involving the Ethiopian government and the Oromo Liberation Front, we will discuss the more peaceful traditional cross-border movements.
Traditional migrations for grazmg and rituals Restrictions on free movement back and forth across the border affect the whole working of the pastoralists' far-ranging economy. Because much of the border follows the Megaddo Escarpment, the rainfall and vegetation are markedly different on the Ethiopian (highland) side and the Kenyan (lowland) areas. This was taken into account when the border was drawn in the colonial era, specified in a treaty as Trench writing of the 1930s records. It was the hopeless task of the British Consul for Southern Abyssinia, stationed at Mega, some sixty miles north-west of Moyale, to nag the Emperor's officers into... honouring the treaty which allowed British tribesmen to water from Abyssinian wells. Whenever his salary was in arrears - and it usually was - the Gerazmach charged them exorbitant watering fees. (Trench 1993: 135) Now it is not even a matter of payment. In mid-1999 the Ethiopian army prevented Kenyan Boraria and Gabra from watering their animals at the big dam just on the border near Forole - although there were huge herds of Borana cattle from Ethiopia grazing freely on the Hun Hills. As always, people resident on one side of the border have some of their animals with relations on the other - but with the present closing of the border, cannot move them back or even get to them. Such restrictions also, of course, affect the families themselves. We talked with innumerable people who are bitterly complaining they now cannot visit their parents, their children, their spouses, to say nothing of more distant kin. If they try, the results may be disastrous. A young man s Jarso Sora Guyo, from Walda was engaged to a girl in Magaddo, Ethiopia, and set off'to make the required formal visit to his in-laws. But on the way, on 5 February, he was arrested on the grounds of being an OLF suppor.ter. He was never questioned, just badly beaten and then kept in jail for 96 days. Prisoners were expected to buy their own food; his little money soon ran
75 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED out, and it was some Ethiopians who were also in jail and shared their food with him that enabled him to survive. He was finally released on 12 May and came back via Moyale. The worrying thing about this instance is that no one 'at home' gave his absence a second thought as they expected him to be gone for some time. Several months later a frail elderly man of Sololo, Guyo Kiya, was arrested when he crossed into Ethiopia to retrieve his strayed mule. We have included his account of their tribulations and eventual release in Chapter 5. The unofficial closure of the border also affects the very core of the Borana and Gabra cultures. Every eight years, the Borana hold huge elaborate group ceremonies called Jilla Gadamoji. This 'festival of the ritual elders' is their major age-set transition ceremony and is held in special temporary villages constructed in a dozen or so time-honoured sacred sitci. The majority are in Ethiopia, only two are in Kenya - one near Sololo and one, relatively new, near Mars abit. It is extremely important for a gadamoji to go through this retirement ceremony at the same place where his forefathers performed theirs. In these last years, it has become increasingly difficult for Borana living in Kenya to return to the Ethiopian sites. The Gabra, too, hold crucial age-set ceremonies. Theirs are normally every fourteen years. (It has to be in the appropriate lunar month of their seven- year solar cycle.) For them it is so important that it be held in the same place that it is called the Jilla Galani, the 'ceremony of returning home', and is viewed in the light of a pilgrimage. Of the five sections of the Gabra, only the Odoola have their ritual site in Kenya. The Algaana, Gara and Sharbaana all have theirs in southern Ethiopia, the Galbo just inside the border. These pilgnmages are like mass migrations; one year, for example, the Galbo pilgrimage consisted of 140 households with thousands of camels and huge flocks of small stock. As Fr Isaiah Eikalo wrote: An event like this migration shows some feature of nomadic land use which may be relevant to policy making because the [imposition] of modern statehood. . . endangers future migrations across the Kenya/Ethiopia boundary. Nascent national identities in Africa often seem to require the enforcement of boundaries at high expense and without economic justification while boundaries between nations with more firmly established identities tend to lose importance, e.g. in western Europe. Ways have to be sought to keep the borders open to the nomadic movements of the local population. (Eikalo 1998:15)
76 INTERNATIONAL BORDER AND OROMO FACTOR
Fr Isaiah was a prophet. Because the border was (unofficially) closed in April 1999, the Gaara had to hold their Jilla Galani not in their normal ritual site which is in Melbana, south of Mega, but on the Kenyan side of the border, on the northern slopes of the Huri Hills. Further to the west, the border situation is also precarious, with raiding to and fro between the Gabra, Dassanetch, Hamar Koke and Arbore, and the situation was exacerbated by the lack of cooperation - some say connivance - of the Ethiopian authorities. When the Catholic Mission of North Horr together with the little NGO called PACODEO organized the first-ever 'Peace and Reconciliation' meeting in the area in July 1999 (see Chapter 6), they invited authorities from Omorati and representatiws of the trans-border communities. Part of the Ileret team was transported to the meeting at Allia Bay by the Ileret GSU lony but it only arrived at 11 pm, having been delayed by a long period of waiting in fleret for the arrival of the Ethiopian government leaders in accompany of Amar IHamar Kokel and Arbore coinmuiiity peace and reconciliation representatiyes. The Ethiopian peace team from lOmoratil across failed to turn up, although they were in Ileret with Kenyan peace leaders confirming of their workshop attendance 3 day prior to the peace and reconciliation workshop. The reasons for their failure to turn up is yet to be known. [PACODEO Report.] And it would have remained unknown had not the two priests from the North Hon Mission (and ourselves) passed through Omorati six months later and happened to meet the local administrator. Fr Antony asked him point blank why he and his group had failed to turn up. 'Our vehicle broke down', he answered lamely. While allowing Ethiopian Borana and Gabra to freely enter Kenya, the Kenya government has not taken any firm diplomatic action to ensure that its citizens can similarly enter Ethiopia without being arrested and harassed. This is, in effect, a violation of the civil rights of the Boran and Gabra to follow their traditions. Similarly, while we have not heard of a single instance of Kenyan military or police crossing into Ethiopia, the reverse is far from true. We will now look at the border situation in more detail.
77 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
The Ethiopian army and the Oromo Liberation Front It is a fundamental principle of international law that each state has jurisdiction only within its boundaries. Any state that exerts control over a region outside its borders is exceeding its authority unless it is acting pursuant to a pact between the two countries. There is no known pact between Kenya and Ethiopia, but as we pointed out earlier, there was almost certainly a secret pact between President Jorno Kenyatta and Emperor Haile Selassie. This seems to have been continued by the present rulers of the two countries. Certainly the Ethiopian army acts as though it has the right to operate in Kenya, for it frequently makes incursions over the border torturing, abãucting and murdering Kenyans and Ethiopians in Kenya. These acts are in direct violation of international law and the domestic laws of Kenya. Such acts are generally considered acts of war. However, the Kenya government generally turns a very blind eye to these incidents. For many years, but particularly since 1992, the Ethiopian army has been making incursions into Kenya not only to 'flush out' OLF activists taking refuge in Kenya but to intimidate Kenyans who might be supporting the OLF, those who literally feed them. It must be kept in mind that families are spread over both sides of the border, and an Ethiopian who is a member of the OLF may very well have close relatives in Kenya - who could hardly be expected to refuse food and shelter. When it suspects a Kenyan individual, family or community of feeding the OLF, it wreaks retaliation on Kenyan soil. People living in Moyale and Marsabit districts have not only been arrested when visiting Ethiopia but have even been abducted from Kenya and jailed in Ethiopia. Neither Kenyan authorities nor the families of the victims are informed, and often it is not knowrn what has happened. The Ethiopian army, armed with sophisticated weapons, also carries out organized attacks on whole communities in northern Kenya. They justify their attacks by saying they are looking for OLF 'rebels' and supporters. In these attacks, the Ethiopian soldiers not only kill and injure people, but often they destroy property, bombing houses, accidentally killing and injuring animals as well. The areas that suffer most from aggression by Ethiopian forces are Moyale and Sololo (now re-named Obbu) divisions in Moyale District, both of INTERNATIONAL BORDER AND OROMO FACTOR
which march with the border. There seem to have been at least two OLF- connected attacks on individuals in Marsabit too, and one as far afield as Nairobi. These attacks have created an atmosphere of fear and insecurity in these regions - which is precisely why the Ethiopian army perpetrates them. Under international law, the Ethiopian army has no right to pursue its opponents into Kenya and to wage its war on Kenyan soil. Yet, since the purpose of these attacks is to intimidate Kenyans from supporting the OLF, the Ethiopians make no attempt to hide their identity. In almost all cases, the attackers have been wearing Ethiopian army uniforms. The majority of the soldiers are Tigray, the main component of the present Ethiopian army, and the Kenyans generally refer to the attackers simply as Tigrays or TPLF. 43 Nevertheless, the Ethiopian government denies involvement and insists the attackers are 'independent outlaws' (ie, members of the OLF) or ordinary bandits. These assassinations and attacks are never properly investigated. The local police often insist that they are committed by Kenyans themselves and refuse to recognize the role of the Ethiopian army. In some cases, the police may be right and a murder that is claimed to be the work of 'the Tigray' could in actuality be part of a local vendetta. For that reason, it is extremely important that each and every incident be thoroughly investigated and the culprits identified. We list here the incidents which we were able to document which led up to the Kenya government taking a firm stand - not against the intrusions by the Ethiopian army but against the presence of some OLF militia in Kenya. (Since the local people refer to the Ethiopian army as 'the Tigray', we tend to follow that usage here.)
43 During the Mengistu regime it was rare to see Tigray in southern Ethiopia; their influx has come with the overthrow of Mengistu by the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), of which the main component was the Tigray People's Liberation Front (FPLF). The Tigray are from the northern part of Ethiopia and many, though not all, have two small vertical cicathces on either temple, which makes them easy to identify. THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
A CHRONOLOGY OF INCIDENTS
2July92 Mi Jattani Tandu, an Ethiopian Oromo who had been governor of Gamu- Gofu Province and was a prominent member of the OLF, was assassinated in Nairobi by gunmen who shot him twice in the head. The then Saku (Marsabit) MP, JJ Falana, claimed (21 July) that an Ethiopian Embassy car had been used as the getaway vehicle and that two of the assassins were holed up in the Embassy in Nairobi. Two Ethiopian soldiers were later tried for the murder but acquitted by a Nairobi court. 44
Apnl 94 Halake Kirini was shot at by Tigray while at his shamba in Anona. He ran for cover and luckily was not wounded. He reported the attack to the Sololo police but no action was taken.
September94 Molu Boru Liban was abducted from his cattle boma at Hadadi (in Dambala Fachana location). He has never been seen again.
21 September94 A large group of Ethiopian soldiers from Tuka made a pre-dawn attack on a group of men in fora with several hundred cattle in the bush about 3 km from Danibala Fachana. The Ethiopians clearly were convinced that this was an OLF camp. The herders were taken totally by surprise, but they quickly rallied and the ensuing battle was heard at Sololo, but by the time the first people from even nearby got there, it was over. Eleven Boraiia had been killed, 21 others had been injured, nine badly enough that they were admitted to hospital, and 45 Tigray soldiers lay dead. (There were no wounded left on the field.) As the survivors were fleeing back to Tuka, the Sololo police intercepted some and killed another three. It was said that many more died from their wounds after they returned to Tuka.
44 Some people then said Ali jattani had been killed by Gabra, and that it was to revenge his murder that Mi Foora, a high-ranking Gäbra police officer in Nairobi, was bludgeoned to death one evening as he was entering his house. Talk of this alleged revenge killing was revived in the spate of assassinations in Marsabit seven years later (see Chapter 3) but consensus even among the Borana is that Gabra were not involved in All Jattani's murder.
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This has gone down in local history as Lola Dambala Fachana, the Battle of Dambala Fachana. It remains the worst incident in the whole Sololo area to date.
The attack put the local Borana's Jilla Gadamoji in serious jeopardy. Of the two traditional ritual sites in Kenya for this once-every-eight-year ceremony, one is Waye Dida, not far from DF. Their ceremony was scheduled for June 1995 and the gadamoji elders had already started their ritual preparations. Now, and until the last week, it remained very uncertain whether they would dare hold it. But as there had been no further incidents, in June they all came to Waye Dida, built their ceremonial village, and the Jilla Gadamoji was performed, as it should be, in peace.
16.Ju1y 95 Fifty-two-year-old retired Corporal Guracha Bisiko, the KANU chairman for Butiye Location (near Moyale), was abducted, held and tortured for seven months. When the 1996/97 KHRC team interviewed him on 5 October 1996, he described to them his ordeal at the hands of Ethiopian soldiers. Three TPLF soldiers in plain clothes stopped me and told me I was under arrest. I resisted and they drew their pistols, ordering me to follow them. I was taken to an army base in Moyale-F4hiopia. Throughout my stay at the army base, I was repeatedly beaten with sharp sticks and whipped. I remember the worst day of my life. It was 27 October 1995. The soldiers hit every part of my body and pressed my testicles with an object I could not identify: I was accused of 'feeding and harbouring OLF frces' and 'using my military experience to train them' in Butiye. That day I was transferred to Bukulu Boma [a known torture centre of captured OLF soldiers and their sympathizers]. They tied my hands behind my back and whipped me with a sharpened whip that dug small holes in my body. They then poked my buttocks with a sharp Somali sword. The beating went on for over eight hours. I was then thrown into a waterlogged cell for several hours. The same exercise was repeated over several days. Soldiers would push pistols into my ears and demand to know where OLF soldiers were harboured in Kenya. When I insisted I did not know, they would beat me more vigorously. They repeatedly pressed my testicles hard and tied a rope in a tight knot around them. My penis THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
shrank in size and my testicles got so swollen that I had to have an operation upon my release. Because of my problem with asthma, I could not cope with the spicy Ethiopian food, so they fed me on biscuits and water at Bukulu Boma. There were no toilets in the cells. We urinated and defecated in buckets that we had to empty every morning. I shared a cell with 28 other prisoners, four of whom were Kenyan. As Bisiko was being 'arrested', he managed to get some people from his home area to give the news of his abduction to his wife. She immediately reported the incident to the OCPD and the DC of Moyale. They initiated contact with Ethiopian authorities but.failed to follow up when the Ethiopians denied any knowledge of Bisiko's whereabouts. This resulted in Bisiko being held for several months. After his release, Bisiko again reported the incident to the OCPD and DC of Moyale. The matter was never raised with the Ethiopian authorities. It was swept under the rug and has long since been officially forgotten.
29 October95 A large group of Ethiopian soldiers came to Uran Lataka in search of the area assistant chief, AbakameJillo. They opened fire, surrounded his hou*, and told his wife and children to come out. Then they threw six 'bombs' (grenades) into the house. bickily Abakame was not home. Later the villagers collected 127 cartridges, but the only casualty had been one goat accidentally killed. Since the attack, Abakame, now assistant chief of Uran Goda, has been living in his cement-block house in Sololo. llJanuaiy 96 Tulicha Kiya and Huka Bagaja were murdered while making charcoal in the bush near Odha. Ethiopian soldiers were seen leaving the scene of the cnme.
8 Febivaiy96 Assistant Chief Gabriel Kalicha Sora, popularly known as Taro, of MadoAdi (7 km from Sololo) together with his wife Habiba were killed when a large group of Ethiopian soldiers 'bombed' their home in that village. An employee, Halake Wario, was shot dead. Chief Taro's brotherJulius Malicha Sora, in charge of maintenance at Sololo Hospital, described the event:
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The attack took place around midnight. The Tigrays, about 50, many in uniform, surrounded the village. First they went to his first wife and asked 'where is your husband?' She said, 'I don't know, I'm not his wife.' They beat her and then they knocked at the door of the second wife. 'Where is the chief?' She said she didn't know. The catechist, John Guyo, came out of his house. The Tigray recognized him as an elder brother of the chief, so they threw him inside the house of the second wife. They then went back to the first wife to beat her. Then to the second wife. She refused to say anything and she refused to let them into the house. My brother's worker, Halake Wario, came running to see what was going on. They shot him dead. Then they threw a bomb [grenade] in the house of the second wife. She was killed outright and Taro was badly injured. Their 6-month-old baby girl was injured and so was her 11-year- old sister. Only the boy, Roba, was unhurt. Then the Tigray ran away to Ethiopia. There were some homeguards there, they did nothing, they just collected my brother's gun ía chief is issued with a gun by the governmentl and gave it to the police. The people put Taro and John in wheelbarrows to bring them to hospital. But Taro died. When we in Sololo heard the noises and saw the light of the burning house, we rushed to Mado Adi. Fr Antonio Santinoli came. We were with two vehides, one from the mission, one from the hospital. I found my brother dead. As we were carrying the bodies back to Sololo, we met a Mahendra vehicle near Ramole [about 1 km from Sololo, on the track to Mado Adil. It was one of the OCPD from Moyale, heading to Mado Adi. At that time, after midnight, we were surprised. After they saw Taro's body they turned back to Moyale. We said, 'the government is somehow involved'. When we reported to the police at Sololo, they wouldn't do anything. They just told us to look for a vehicle if we wanted them to come out. My brother Taro had already reported to the Sololo police station that Chief Jattani Kotole of Uran had given a list of OLF sympathizers to the Tigray, and he had already stated that if anything happened to him it would be the fault of Chief Jattarn. After the killing, I went to the police
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and asked them, 'Do you know of any report my brother gave youP' The police refused to answer me. After we buried our three dead, we went home to Mado Adi. After two days, Chief Jattani appeared. He did not say 'pole' (sorry) to us. But he. said to someone, 'It is done.' There was a big crowd, the Councillor, Chief Galma, many leaders. When this was heard, the people wanted to kill him. They chased him, he ran. He came to Sololo and reported that people were trying to kill him. After seven days, the mourning period, was over we went to the police and accused Jattani of being involved. The police, the government, took no action. So we accused Jattani to our traditional Boraria leaders. All the chiefs and assistant chiefs were at the meeting, and they reported him to the DO. The following week Chief Galma held a meeting at the market centre of Sololo, in which jattani was asked many questions by the elders. It was at that meeting they outcasted 45 jattani. It's said that Jattani went to Ethiopia and joined the Tigray. I've heard - but I'm not sure - that there's another case against him, of being involved in the murder of Chief Buke of Golole. 46 People in Mado Adi recognized amongst the attackers one man called Wako Guyo Wako, whose father, Guyo Wako Mole, was living in Mado Adi. Wako Guyo had been the Tigrays' informer; he'd pointed out.Lwhere Taro lived. He had become a Tiray, he'd been bribed. His father was told, to leave the village. There were two informers in fact. They were cursed. Wako Guyo was crippled while huntingantelope, and the other is dead. Despite all our efforts, the family has never got any compensation from the government for Taro's murder, which they should because he was a government employee. Here, I have the police case file, No. CR 453/2/96, where it is stated clearly he was murdered. We've written many letters, gone to many offices. Nothing! Since the government here has done nothing, we have a plan to bring this up at next Gumi Gayo. 47
45 All parties concerned are members of the large, powerful Karrayu clan but belong to different subclans. Chief Taro's family is Karrayu Dajika, Chief jauani is Karrayu Kicha. 46 Who was also Karrayu, of the Siba subclan. 47 The Gumi Gayo is the traditional pan-Borana.meeting that is held in southern THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
and asked them, 'Do you know of any report my brother gave you?' The police refused to answer me. After we buried our three dead, we went home to Mado Adi. After two days, Chief Jattani appeared. He did not say 'pole' (sony) to us. But he said to someone, 'It is done.' There was a big crowd, the Councillor, Chief Galma, many leaders. When this was heard, the people wanted to kill him. They chased him, he ran. He came to Sololo and reported that people were trymg to kill him. Mler seven days, the mourning period, was over we went to the police and accused Jattani of being involved. The police, the government, took no action. So we accused jattani to our traditional Borana leaders. All the chiefs and assistant chiefs were at the meeting, and they reported him to the DO. The following week Chief Galma held a meeting at the market centre of Sololo, in which jattani was asked many questions by the elders. It was at that meeting they outcasted
jattani.4 ' It's said that Jattani went to Ethiopia and joined the Tigray. I've heard - but I'm not sure - that there's another case against him, of being
involved in the murder of Chief Buke of Golole. 46 People in Mado Adi recognized amongst the attackers one man called Wako Guyo Wako, whose fathers Guyo Wako Mole, was living in Mado Adi. Wako Guyo had been the Tigrays' informer; he'd pointed outhere Taro lived. He had become a Tiray, he'd been bribed. His father was told to leave the village. There were two informers in fact. They were cursed. Wako Guyo was crippled while huntingantelope, and the other is dead. Despite all our efforts, the family has never got any compensation from the government for Taro's murder, which they should because he was a government employee. Here, I have the police case file, No. CR 453/2/96, where it is stated clearly he was murdered. We've written many letters, gone to many oflices. Nothingl Since the government here
has done nothing, we have a plan to bring this up at next Gumi Gayo. 47
45 All parties concerned are members of the large, powerful Karrayu clan but belong to different subclans. Chief Taro's family is Karrayu Danka, Chief Jattani is Karrayu Kicha. 46 Who was also Karrayu, of the Siba subclan. 47 The Guini Gayo is the traditional pan-Borana meeting that is held in southern INTERNATIONAL BORDER AND OROMO FACTOR
Taro's brother John Guyo was appomted assistant chief. Julius is caring for his orphaned nephew and nieces. The brothers are still fearful of further attacks. 27 Februaiy 96 Guyo Miyo, former bodyguard of slain Oromo leader, Ali Jattani, was shot in the head in Moyale, and died on arrival at the hospital.
March .96 The Ethiopian army has made incursions into Kenya not only to hunt down (alleged) supporters of the OLF but also to wreak revenge on prominent supporters of Mengistu's regime who took refuge in Kenya after he was ousted. One such was an elderly Boran Dissa (a group related to Gabra) called Jirmo Dida, who came across into Kenya with his family and livestock. The Ethiopian soldiers eventually followed him to El Adi but he escaped and headed west towards Dukana. The Ethiopians caught up with him at Dosa Deramu (near Laga Wata, south of Dukana), where tiey murdered his wife and three daughters and stole his animals. Reinforced.by police from Dukana, Jirmo Dida and his neighbours followed the killers, and there was a major battle. Many were killed on both sides, but the livestock was recovered. Jirmo DIda subsequently married a Gabra girl and is staying in Kenya, but is still fearful for his life, to such an extent that dur informant preferred not to mention the man's specific whereabouts.
March 96 Gabra and Borana who were in fora at Balessa Demoghe (a cluster of wells in the Laga Balal north of Sam, just south of the border) were attacked by Ethiopians who killed 12 people and wounded at least 10 others who were taken to the dispensary in Dukana, (No Ethiopians were killed.) They did not take any livestock. When a complaint was made, the Ethiopian government claimed the attackers were OLF 'bandits', but Gabra and Borana victims are adamant that the attackers were soldiers of the Ethiopian army.
5 March 96 There was a shoot-out between Ethiopian soldiers and Kenyan security forces in the National Council of Churches of Kenya compound in
Ethiopia every eight years. (See also Chapter 6.)
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Moyale. One Ethiopian soldier - whose body was later claimed by his army - was killed by Kenyan security forces. Anderson Micheni, a newly posted teacher in Moyale, was accidentally killed. A British VSO teacher was also present and as a result of the incident, the VSO evacuated not only him but also, temporarily, two VSOs teaching in Sololo.
12 March 96 Kalicha Dima was abducted by Ethiopian soldiers while buying cattle near Forole. When the 1996/97 KHRC team heard of this, he was still being held at an unknown location in Ethiopia. He was subsequently released.
12 March 96 Adi Godana was abducted from the Sololo area by Ethiopian soldiers. When the 1996/97 KHRC team heard of this, he was still being held at an unknown location in Ethiopia. He has since been released,
3Apiil96 In Nairobi, Jattani's lawyer, Hussein Sora, died from causes widely believed to have been poisoning. This happened shortly after he presented a 22- page memorandum to the Kenya government (with a copy to the KHRC) accusing the Ethiopian government of complicity in the escalating acts of banditry in Marsabit and Moyale Districts (see Preface).
May96 Halake Roba of Waye Goda was shot dead by Ethiopian soldiers while herding livestock near Mado Adi. There was an armed homeguard present, and he opened fire but failed to hit anyone and had to watch the attackers escaping unscathed back towards Ethiopia.
May96 During the night, Ethiopian soldiers attacked the hillside hamlet of Karbururi. They stole eight head of cattle and a donkey and captured one man, Gabro Sara Arero, whom they took to their prison at Bukulu Boma. The Kenya government authorities followed this up, and he was released and came back through Moyale. (He has since died, of natural causes.) INTERNATIONAL BORDER AND OROMO FACTOR
l2June 96 The assistant chief of Golole, John Buke Liban, was shot dead between Karbururi and Golole. It was dusk, he was going home in the company of two Golole homeguards - who murdered him. They were arrested, along with an old man named Kalicha Duba, also of Golole, who was said to be the mastermind. All three were convicted and jailed. (One of the homeguards escaped custody, but it is said he was rearrested in Uran in 1998.) Chief Buke was known for trying to keep his area clear of OLF (Golole is only 21/2 km from the border, which at that point is near the base, rather than the top, of the escarpment. It is said (we did not see it) thatJohn Buke had written in his 'agenda', which was found after his death, something to the effect: If I am killed, it will be the work of the OLF. The local grapevine has it that pro-OLF homeguards had been 'used' to do the job. We also heard the suspicion voiced that Chief Galma might have been involved.
13July96 Galma Kalicha Godo was abducted from his farm in Anona. He was held in Iddi Lola for 68 days, allegedly tortured, then released.
28July 96 The PC of Eastern Province (Ishmael Chelang'a, the Provincial Police Officer and several other VIPs together with two reporters made a helicopter reconnaissance of Forole and Dukana. When they landed back at Marsabit, they took on the CPK Bishop Adano, and set off for Embu and Nairobi. The helicopter almost immediately crashed, close to the KWS HQ in Marsabit National Park, and all eleven people were killed. The helicopter was notoriously poorly maintained, and according not only to press reports but to a mechanically-inclined CPK missionary who inspected the machine just after it crashed, there is no truth in the rumour that it had been blown up by a bomb. Nevertheless, other forms of sabotage have never been completely ruled out, so we are recording the incident here.
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1997 This was a relatively peaceful year along the border and no incidents were brought to our attention.
l2Apiii 98 Guyo Halkano and Dabasso Diba were captured in Uran Dida. The two young men were released after two days, then disappeared in Ethiopia. Their mothers are very worried, and the chief has written a letter reporting this to the police and the DO in Sololo. He has never got an answer.
July98 Some 16 head of cattle belonging to several residents of Dambala Fachana were stolen by Ethiopian soldiers while grazing near the border (only about 3 km away). They were being herded by Wako Goliçha Kochoro and a 10- year old boy. Wako Golicha was captured, the lad fled, (He was so nicked he got lost and was not found until the next day.) As the Ethiopians were climbing the hilt with the cattle, Wako Golicha managed to escape. He reported the theft and two owners, Halake Jilo and Abudo Guyo, and a third man, All Wako, went off after the cattle. Whert'they got inside Ethiopia, they were arrested. They were held for 13 days until the DC Moyale negotiated their release. The cattle have never been recovered.
25September98 A group of about 30 Ethiopian soldiers int'aded Urari at 10 o'clock at night. They split into two groups to surround the house, identified by an informer, in which they believed OLF to be sheltering. The two groups collided and in the dark and confusion, one of the Ethiopian militia shot one of their own men, Chocharia Harro Dida. They took his gun and fled. At the crack of dawn, the chief and local police sent two men on foot to report to Sololo, 117 km away. They arrived there before 8 a.m. The Sololo police did not get to Uran until 1 p.m. The police took the body to Sololo Hospital. As it was never claimed, the man was buried in Sololo. lOJanwuy99 At 10 on this Sunday night, Haji Hassan Sheik Au, the 70-year-old imam of Moyalle, was shot dead. THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
1997 This was a relatively peaceful year along the border and no incidents were brought to our attention.
12 Aplil 98 Guyo Halkano and Dabasso Diba were captured in Uran Dida. The two young men were released alter two days, then disappeared in Ethiopia. Their mothers are very worried, and the chief has written a letter reporting this to the police and the DO in Sololo. He has never got an answer.
July98 Some 16 head of cattle belonging to several residents of Dambala Fachana were stolen by Ethiopian soldiers while grazing near the border (only about 3 km away). They were being herded by Wako Golicha Kochoro and a 10- year old boy. Wako Golicha was captured, the lad fled. (He was so pnicked he got lost and was not found until the next day.) As the Ethiopians were climbing the hill with the cattle, Wako Golicha managed to escape. He reported the theft and two owners, Halake jilo and Abudo Guyo, and a third mali, Mi Wako, went ofT after the cattle. Wherr'they got inside Ethiopia, they were arrested. They were (held for 13 days until the DC Moyale negotiated their release. The cattle have never been recovered.
25September98 A group of about 30 Ethiopian soldiers ini'aded Uran at 10 o'clock at night. They split into two groups to surround the house, identified by an informer, in which they believed OLF to be sheltering. The two groups collided and in the dark and confusion, one of the Ethiopian militia shot one of their own men, Chochana Harro Dida. They took his gun and fled. At the crack of dawn, the chief and local police sent two men on foot to report to Sololo, 17 km away. They arrived there before 8 a.m. The Sololo police did not get to Uran until 1 p.m. The police took the body to Sololo Hospital. As it was never claimed, the man was buried in Sololo. lOjaiivary 99 At 10 on this Sunday night, Haji Hassan Sheik All, the 70-year-old imarn of Moyale, was shot dead.
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According to iàmily members, the gunmen entered the deceased's compound and sent one of his children to call him, saying they had an urgent message for him. The Imam, who was by then retiring to bed, was shot dead as he left his house to meet the 'fiends'. (Nation 28/2/99) In a double-spread 'Special Report' the press stated under the headline Moyale, Towii with a war on its doorstep While the DC denied that the people who killed the Imam were Ethiopians, he revealed that the three people arrested, two men and a woman, were Ethiopians. The killing of the Imam was all the more intriguing because three days before his murder, police had searched his house. The search was supervised by an inspector. (Nation 14/2/99) It was claimed that a high-frequency radio transceiver was found in his house. The same night, at the same time, there was a brief but exceedingly noisy attack on Somare, a collection of hilltop manyattas some 3 km from Moyale. Some accounts said that two people were injured, other sources said there were no casualties, but whatever they may have been they were not serious. This led many people to think the attack was simply a diversion staged to enable the imam's killers to escape. It is said that the imam, an Arsi Oromo, was helping the OLF, funnelling aid from Arab countries that was coming in via Kisimayu. We will return to the implications of this later, when we discuss the 'Horn of Africa conflicts'.
15januaiy .99 The Ethiopian army allegedly attacked Dambala Fachana. What actually happened is still somewhat murky. We will stat with facts given us by the Sololo Catholic Hospital. In the afternoon of 15 January a man came to the hospital and requested the ambulance to collect 'some patients' from Bori. He did not disclose their problems and since Bori is out of the normal ambulance operating range, the hospital administration said the patients should find their own transport. At 5 in the morning of 16 January, a lorry brought four men with gunshot injuries to the hospital. They said they were coming from DF, that the village had just been attacked that night. One, Galgalo Roba Wacho, THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
admitted, with 'gunshot wound of the head with fracture of jaw', was a DF homeguard. Born Dida said his home was Sololo Ramata. Qala Sara and Hussein Tula said they were from Sololo Makutano. Later in the day a second DF homeguard arrived, Golicha Guyo Abudo, shot in the shoulder. Two days later a sixth gunshot victim, Dima Godana, came; he had been shot in the hand and it was obvious to the doctor that the injury was a couple of days old.
By then everyone knew that the Ethiopian military camp at Tuka just across the border 12 km from DF, had just been attacked by the OLF. Front-page banner headlines in the Nation of 18 January shouted (rather confusingly) Border clash leaves 18 dead. It was first said that DF had been attacked by Ethiopian militia pursuing OLF fighters. Later the people of DF claimed their village had been attacked in revenge for the attack on Tuka. Now Born Dida, Qala Sara and Hussein Tula had admitted they were from Ethiopia.
The story the homeguards gave, which they repeated when we interviewed them on 12 May 1999, was we were just sitting, talking behind that house, about 10:30 at night, when we were fired upon. You can still see some bullet marks in the Imudj walls. The attackers were a small group, not more than ten. We were injured, myself not seriously, but my friend here had a bullet go right through just below his ears and he has serious trouble hearing. That's why he's not talking. One cow was killed, over there, and another wounded.
The Italians at the Sololo mission and hospital, whose ears are attuned to such things, confirmed to us that they had heard no gunshots that evening. (DF is only about 12 km away 'as the crow flies'.)
Fearing further reprisals, many families fled DF to stay with friends and relatives in Sololo and Sololo Makutano. The school was closed for two weeks (it was also running short of water).
It was at this juncture that the Ethiopian army closed the border, not allowing people to cross for trade, to visit relatives or even for medical treatment. By the time we revisited the Sololo area (May 1999), the border was still firmly, albeit unofficially, closed. It was said that if the Ethiopian militia caught anyone trying to sneak across, they would be arrested and fined one bull. Hardly anyone dared to try, and people were coming INTERNATIONAL BORDER AND OROMO FACTOR around through Moyale where the official border crossing was still open. As a result, the Sololo market was more than half empty, as was the hospital which normally has many patients from Ethiopia. The border was still unofficially closed as of the time of writing (October 1999).
19& 23Januaiy99 The two homegiiards were discharged from hospital and returned to DF, but when we interviewed Galgalo and Golicha four months later (12 May) they still had not been given their guns back. When we asked why, they said Because the report of the attack was written wrongly f so we got blamedj, Meanwhile, the chiefs of both DF and Bori had been interdicted (22 April, see below). It would seem there was a suspicion that the two homeguards (and others) had taken part in the attack on Tuka, with the connivance of the chiefs.
26Januaiy 99 The DO Sololo, Mr Lukinyi, went to the hospital with a police lorry to remove the injured Ethiopians 'for the security of the hospital'. As the three were still under treatment, the doctor, an Italian surgeon, tried to refuse to release them; he did so only when he received a written order from the DO. The DO said the injured were being transferred to Moyale. From there they were allegedly secretly spirited to Meru Hospital in what was seen as a move to ensure they were not abducted. (Nation 12/2/99) We have not been able to find out what happened to them. When the hospital had asked the DO Sololo who would cover the bill for the Ethiopians, he said the government would. The bill was forwarded to the DC Moyale but he refused to handle it, saying 'I wonder how the govermnent can be asked to clear medical bills for rebels.' (Standard 23/3/99) When we talked with the hospital administration, they were still annoyed that the bill had not been paid. Februaiy 99 The volunteer catechist at El Adi, John Iya Ibrae, took leave from his work and went up across the border to Gorai where he has relatives. There he was arrested on the grounds, we heard, that he was supplying the OLF with
91 THE F'ORCOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED medicines. From Gorai (where, he says, his relatives did nothing to help him) he was transferred to Mega and sentenced to eight months in jail. Fortunately his reputation as a mwalimu (teacher) stood him in good stead and at no time, he says, was he ever beaten, or even touched. At Mega he was able to make'tontact with the Catholic mission at Dokholle. At the same time, the Catholic Mission in Kenya reported the case to the DC Moyale, who in turn contacted his counterpart in Moyale Ethiopia (under whose jurisdiction Mega is) and they were able to vouch for John Iya. The result was that the priest from Dokholle paid a fine and John Iya was released. By early June he was back in El Adi, working as a catechist with renewed enthusiasm!
7 February 99 Ethiopian soldiers launched a night attack on Waye Goda, an agricultural village of 136 households tucked in a fertile valley just below the border, 11 km from Sololo. A 'bomb' (grenade) was thrown at the village borehole (fortunately missing). The homeguards (of which there are normally 12 there) set off para-lights and after a brief exchange of fire the attackers fled. The following morning the Catholic mission at Sololo, which has a small congregation at Waye Goda, received a report that someone had been iijured. The parish priest, Fr Angelo, told us he went there immediately but Ibund the report untrue. No one had been hurt. This was at least the fifth time Waye Goda had been attacked in recent years. The last two times had been in 1998 (without casualties). Some people said this latest attack was in revenge for a house being burned, up in Ethiopia, but most deny there had been any such incident.
12 Februaiy 99 Dima Bante, a well-known traditional doctor in his 70s, was captured together with his 11-year-old son, Qumbi Dika Dirna. Dima escaped and when we met him in Sololo three months later, he described to us in detail what had happened. In brief: I live in Sololo Rarnole but earlier this year, because of drought, I took my livestock up the escarpment, together with my 1 1-yr-old son, Qumbi (nickiiamed Dika) Dima. I had 36 cattle, 2 donkeys and 17 goats. My son and I and all the animals were captured by Tigray up between Damicha and Meti.
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I first thought I could bribe them to let us go. People raised money to help us, so I had 8,500 shillings. But they wouldn't let us go, they tried to make me admit supporting the OLF. I was beaten for four days. They beat me with a plastic cable. When I still said I didn't know anything about the OLF, they picked me up, held me horizontal and threw me on t.e ground, several times. On the second day I couldn't urinate, couldn't defecate, so they thought I was finished. They threw me outside and took all my clothes off me, and my money. But when they realized I was alive, they put me back inside. They beat me some more. I was kept in custody in a place called Arda Loni, where they have cells for Kenyans. In the house there is a hole, an underground cell where they keep prisoners. It is a big hole in the ground, with a ladder going down, where they put four people. I was in prison for 27 days. I managed to escape, just after the Waye Goda attack (10 March). We had been told everyone in that village had been killed. I escaped at night but I got lost until dawn. I was two days and two nights in the bush, without any food or water at all. But by lucky chance I met a good Samaritan, a woman whS recognized me. By that time I couldn't speak, but I gestured and she saw I was thirsty so she brought water. As I was going down towards to Waye Goda, I realized there were people there. Since we had been told that all the Waye Goda people had been killed, I thought they were Tigray, so I kept hidden in the bush, coming down slowly, slowly. As I got a bit near the village I collapsed, unconscIous. The man who found me let out that long shout to let people know he had found a dead man. The people came. They realized I wasn't dead, so first they gave me warm tea. My brother Diba Bank lives in Waye Goda, so I was taj.en to his house. Everyone came with a cup of milk for me, everyone. I have two wives, four children. My eldest son, who is 23, saw that we were very poor, so he has gone to Nairobi. My younger son, Qumbi, is still missing, I have had no news of him at all. I've reported this to the police, to the chief, to the DO's office. But still he has not returned. He is still held by the Tigray, and so are all of my animals.48
48 When we returned to Sololo in December, we were told by an eye-witness that Dima Bante's animals had all been sold by the Tigray and that his son is under
93 0 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
l5Februaay 99 In an article about alleged victimisation of two pastoralist MPs who were members of the recently formed PastoralistParliainentary Group, an independent source told the press that plans were underway to implicate an assistant minister, who is a member of the group, in activities of the Ethiopian rival [sic] group, Oromo Liberation Front. (Nation 15/2/99)
I8Fcbruary99 The press reported, briefly: Two Kenyans are being held in Ethiopia after being mistaken to be spies of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLI) rebels. Dida DimaJarso, 20, and Tari Roba Dike, 22 in laws of former Moyale MP Sora Galgalo [Moyale's first MPJ - were searching for goats belonging to the former MP which had been stolen... two months ago from the border town of Moyale. (Statidard 18/2/99)
1 March 99 In the evening a large contingent of Ethiopian soldiers attacked Golole but were repulsed. Although the following day the villagers collected about 190 cartridges, the Ethiopians had been shooting from such a distance that the only casualties were one donkey killed and one elderly woman slightly wounded, Mulicha Saku, who had been quietly milking her cow.
3 Marth 99 There was another night attack on Waye Goda. Again, a 'bomb' (grenade) was thrown at the borehole, this one causing some slight superficial damage. Again, the attackers were repulsed. Since this was the second attack in less than a month, the villagers began sleeping in the bush, returning to their houses only in the early morning to make tea and get children off to the school in Mado Adi, 4 km away. (Waye Goda did not yet have its own primary school; the Catholic mission had just started building the first classrooms.)
house-arrest with a sister married in Meti - whose husband, despite being the son of a hayyu (a high-ranking traditional leader) had been badly beaten by the Tigray simply for being Dima Bante's son-in-law.
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5 March 99 Around midnight a grenade was thrown into the compound of Ibrahim Abdi Dido, the chief of Sololo Makutario, who lives in the centre of Sololo town. (The first reports were 'Sololo bombed'.) No one was injured. But neither was any attempt made to identify or apprehend those responsible. The story we heard from several sources is that Chief Ibrahim had accepted money from Ethiopians to provide information, but had failed to do so and this was their way of showing their displeasure.
10 March 99 There was a massive third attakon Waye Goda just after dawn, when the attackers knew the people would be back in their homes after sleeping in the bush. According to police sources, the attackers who are said to have come from Tuka military camp included 23 army officers and 30 armed Tabakas. IThey] were armed with... a bazooka, Bren guns, M16 and GB landi AX 47 rifles. (Standard 13/3/99)
But the villagers had been forewarned, the homeguards were waiting in ambush. Three Ethiopians (two in uniform) were killed (Issack Abdullahi, Ndale Belete, Jirimata Wario). One Ethiopian tabaka, Nadow Ambu, was injured and so was one Waye Goda homeguard, Taari Liban.
The fighting was heard in Sololo and police and citizens rushed to the scene. The police took the dead and injured to Sololo Hospital.
There the Eritrean nursing sister was able to talk to the injured Ethiopian in Amharic. He was an Arsi Oromo from Shashamane, in Sidamo Province where she had previously worked. At the army base in Ethiopia there are both Tigrays and Oromos. For this attack, only Ororno-speakers were chosen. We were told we were attacking a shifta (bandit) camp. We did not know we were in Kenya.
That evening the injured Ethiopian was taken away 'for reasons of the security of the hospital'. For reasons of the man's injury (he had been shot in the left thigh), the doctor, again, did not want to release his patient and, again, did so only when he received a written order. The Staridardof 13 March reported, 'Nado Ambo. . . is hospitalised at Marsabit District Hospital', but since the same article described him as 'a member of the Kenya army', it was doubtful whether that information was reliable. We
95 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISiTED checked with a clinical officer there and he remembered the incident well, even the man's name and ethnicity. He confirmed that the Ethiopian had been brought in by the police, but he was taken away almost immediately so his name does not appear in the hospital records for March. We have not been able to find out what happened to him. The dead were also removed by government officials. But the bill was never paid by the government. Reports have trickled out of Ethiopia that many more Ethiopians had been injured in the attack on Waye Goda and several had died. The grapevine has it that the commander himself had been killed in the attack.
12 March 99 Fearing vicious reprisals for the death of the three Ethiopians, the Waye Godans decided to evacuate their village en masse, with their livestock and what little they could carry (including their borehole pump). Many families from nearby Mado Adi joined the exodus, and the school there was closed. They took refuge in Sololo, 500-700 in the CPK compound, others with friends and relatives in the village. The CPK administrator made an urgent phone call to the bishop in Nairobi, who said the church could not provide any emergency food. The DO issued some famine relief maize. Fortunately, it was the dry season so shelter was not a major concern - yet. An army contingent from Moyale arrived in the afternoon, after the attackers had long fled. They set up camp at the Sololo Boys Secondary School and for three days they patrolled the area on foot and with 'Faros' (little rhino-like all-terrain vehicles). Then they left. In a press conference held about this incident in Nairobi, YussufJillo, deputy Executive Director of the Hussein Sora Foimdation for Human Rights and Democracy, claimed that more than 140 people have been killed by Ethiopian security forces in Moyale. (Standard 13/3/99) l5March 99 A delegation from the District Security Committee visited Sololo to help the DO persuade the refugees to return to their homes. The refugees were not convinced. Within a week they had vacated the CPK compound but remained in and around Sololo. Many built little traditional grass houses INTERNATIONAL BORDER AND OROMO FACTOR
(gjJma), mainly in Ramole, between Sololo and Mado Adi. (There is no idle land around Sololo; all is 'owned', albeit without title deeds, so the refugees had to rely on the goodwill of the owners.) Their situation became dire when the rains began in April, for there had been hardly any grass to cut for thatching.
l6March 99 At 6:30 pm an elderly man, Molu Blida, was shot dead in the village of Uran. Two men, their faces covered, approached him as he was sitting in front of his house. His eldest son and daughter, both teachers, were present. The two men greeted him, then one shot him three times with a pistol. Gunshots came from several directions, and the chief (Hussein Noor) and his APs returned fire, but no one was captured nor even injured. The incident was immediately reported to Sololo but no action was taken, even though it was significant enough to be reported in the paper. On Tuesday a prominent Boran elder was killed by the Ethiopian security forces for allegedly being an Oromo Liberation Front sympathizer. (Nation 18/3/99)
l7March 99 A 'bomb' was thrown at the house of ex-chief Hukka Gulet in Sololo. Although the family was home, no one was injured, only the roof was somewhat damaged. He claimed the act had been engineered by Chief Galma. Galma was arrested, but soon released (though apparently on bond). The only explanation we heard for the attack is the same for that on Chief Ibrahim 12 days earlier (see above): that Hukka had failed to provide Ethiopians with information they had paid him for.
23 March 99 The DC Moyale, Stephen Kipkebut, went to Sololo officially to read a Minister's speech during the World Water Day celebrations, but he was forced to address security issues. He was not exactly sympathetic, for as reported in the press under the headlines Moyale villagers reject DC's assurance IThe DOl blamed the residents for allegedly harbouring Oromo Liberation Front rebels. (Standard 24/3/99)
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4April99 Thirty-seven of Waye Goda's 136 households returned to Waye Goda, pushed by the DO's ultimatum that famine relief maize would be issued only to the families who returned to their homes. He further announced that refugee children could not join the primary schools in Sololo (where they had been permitted to sit their end-of-term exams) but had to return to their own school at Mado Adi which was now, after three weeks, reopening. The 37 families went back under the protection of 31 Kenya police, most from down-country, a few from Moyale. Ten were stationed at Waye Goda (camped in the Catholic nursery school, the only cement-block building in the village other than the just-built church), the remainder at Mado Adi. By the time we visited those places, on 9 May, the only police remaining were three in Waye Goda (all Muslims from Moyale). The rest had vanished, 'one by one'. The assistant chief of Mado Adi, John Guyo (brother of the assassinated assistant chief, Taro) told us he would evacuate the whole village if protection was not provided. 49
March - 2April99 Meanwhile, in March, fighting had broken out fai-ther west, around Forole. The local authorities sent a message to the DO Sololo who had a lorry-load of soldiers sent from Moyale. There was no further action and they returned to Moyale on 2 April. The Ethiopian army unilaterally closed the border, as they had already done in the east.
5Apr11 99 Led by Moyale MP Guracha Galgallo several leaders recently urged local people to take up arms and defend themselves. (Standard 5/4/99)
49 No protection was forthcoming, but severe shortages of food and water in Sololo forced many other families to return. By mid-July, a total of 80 families had gone back. Of the rest, some settled in Mado Adi where they built new houses, while others remained at Ramole. Some of the women whose husbands are working in Nairobi moved there. The drought worsened and soon all the remaining families found themselves forced to return, since Waye Goda is the only place in the Sololo area with plentiful water. But an undercurrent of fear was still running, and few were planting crops even when some rain finally fell. INTERNATIONAL BORDER AND OROMO FACTOR
One must remember that just six months earlier the MP's brother Philip had been murdered in the Funanyata lorry massacre (see Chapters 3 and 5).
MicbApriI99 There were reports of more fighting in the area between Forole and Elk Bor. The fighting seemed to be between Borana tabaka and Borana OLF, with Borana civilians caught in the middle. Although most, if not all, the fighting was up in Ethiopia, vehicles travelling on the Kenyan Turbi-Forole track were required to carry an armed escort.
19Apr11 99 A 15-year-old girl from Qicha, Tiya Biliso Roba, was captured by Ethiopian soldiers. She was jailed in Iddi Lola, where she was beaten (although not severely). She was released on 10 May. c. 21April99 Twelve people from Bori, who went up to Ethiopia to visit relatives, were arrested and held in an Ethiopian jail for a week. Women were allegedly raped. (We did not manage to interview any to confirm this.) After a week all were released.
22April99 The Moyale DC sacked Chief Liban Wako of Dambala Fachana and Assistant Chief Roba Dima of Bori
following claims that they were supporting the OLF rebels. .. . A civic leader and four chiefs who talked to reporters after a closed-door meeting said the DC had vowed to flush out t)LF sympathizers. (Standard 23/4/99)
24April99 A young man arrived in Turbi while we were there; he said that during the night he had seen 'bombs' at Elk Bor. It was reported that a Borana village had been attacked by Borana tabaka who made off with many cows which they slaughtered and ate, saying 'you have been helping the guerrillas, now you help us'. Two people were said to have been killed, many injured (one man had his leg chopped oil). It was impossible to ascertain the truth.
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25ApnY 99 A woman from Uran,Jillo Budha, and her 14-year-old daughter, Guyato, were captured by Ethiopian soldiers. Jib, whom we interviewed on 16 May 1999, described what happened. My daughter and I were going up to Gomo to buy miraa, something we did regularly. It's a 2½ hour walk up to Gomo, but when we'd only been walking 1½ hrs, we were stopped by 12 Ethiopian soldiers, in uniform, with guns. They asked me what I was doing. I said I was going to buy miraa. They said, 'That is not true. You are a friend of the shifta Las the Ethiopians call the OLFI, you are going to collect information to help them'. They took us both to Iddi Lola prison and put us in a cell. That girl from Qicha wasthere, she'd already been there six days Isee abovej. They accused me of feeding the shufta. No, they did not heat me, or my daughter. We were given no food, we had to buy our own food. We slept on the cement floor, without any mat. But after eight days I got sick, with a fever. I was crying for my baby boy. So they told my daughter to come down to Uran and collect him. My daughter didn't come back. Next I knew, I was being released. I was released on 11 May. They took me by police car to Moyale and I came home from there. Residents of Uran filled in the story. When the girl came to Uran, the people refused to let her take the toddler, or to return herself. Instead the chief reported the abduction to the DO Sololo who phoned the DC Moyale, who in turn managed to get the Ethiopian government to release her.
2May99 A large well-armed groip, said to be made up of Tigray and Degodia tabaka, attacked Dahel, a Sakuye centre southeast of Moyale. They wounded one A?, Kennedy Andiema (from down-country), and made off with three camels. It was said that the APs and police followed the footprints of some of the bandits right to the border, at Nana. The others disappeared in the direction of Ambalo. The wounded policeman, who had been shot through the abdomen, was taken to Sololo Hospital that night. He confirmed to us that he had heard the bandits speaking Somali.
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3May99 At 10 in the morning a group of about 30 Ethiopian soldiers came to Qicha (a border-straddling hamlet on the escarpment above Uran) and took four head of cattle belonging to several people. When the owners protested (one cow was an old man's sole animal), the soldiers threatened to take them along as well.
7May99 During the night a group of 'bandits' (assumed, of course, to be Ethiopian militia) passed through Qicha, then down to Uran Goda. People in Uran heard some noise, but no one dared to go out. The group went on to Lataka and then to Keramso, an area in Uran Dida where there was a village of ten traditional grass-covered houses. The inhabitants had evidently been warned, for when the 'bandits' arrived they found the village empty. All they could do was burn all the houses. No one we talked with could (or would) explain why that village had been attacked. And of course no action was taken by the police. During that same night there was some sort of disturbance in Odha. Rumours flew of a bomb in the police post, another bomb in the nearby army camp. Neither could be confirmed. But things suddenly began hotting up, in a new and unnerving way.
8May99 On the Dabel road, a few hundred metres from the Odha junction and the Kenya army base, a Moyale-based MOW vehicle hit a landmine. The MOW chief engineer, a Mr Muriuki (who after working in Moyale for five years was about to retire and return down-country), was killed. Another man was seriously injured, the third escaped almost unscathed. The DO Sololo happened to be driving past, so was the first to arrive at the scene, but very quickly some Kenya army personnel came from their camp. This incident was immediately suspected to be connected to whatever had happened the previous night. This was the first landmine incident in Kenya since the end of the Shifta War of the '60s. It was not the last.
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10May99 The deputy headmaster of Sololo Makulano primary school, Mohamed Elema Kanano, was crossing from Moyale-Kenya to Moyale-Ethiopia, something that dozens of people do freely every day. They arrested me because I failed to stop when they shouted. It was just I hadn't understood their language [the Ethiopian border guards speak only Ainharic, no English or KiswahiliJ, but they got angry, saying I was intentionally disobeying them. They searched me and when they found on my ID card that I was from Sololo, they were even more angry. They said that Sololo is full of bandits. They beat me on the head, very badly. They took my 2000 shillings, and they put me in a cell for one night. Then I was released. On 12 May he was admitted to Sololo Hospital with head injuries and a broken jaw. When we interviewed him there on 14 May, he was still distinctly groggy and had difficulty speaking. The next month his father, Elema Kanano, was arrested (see below).
12May99 A small lorry belonging to a water-drilling company working at Korodile that was carrying 25 passengers, including women and children, hit another landmine a little farther down the same road near Odha. Twelve people were injured, six seriously. One, a boy called Cherotich, died at Sololo Hospital on 1 July. (See Chapter 2, 'Medical facilities'.) There was no immediate mention of this incident, or the previous one, in the local papers. It was, however, reported on the radio news. And not only in Kenya. On 14 May, the BBC reported that the landmine had been set by the Ethiopian military. We were in the area at the time. Many people were saying the landmines had been planted to provoke the Kenyan government into taking action against OLF sheltering on the Kenyan side of the border. 5°
50 It still has not become clear who planted the mines. On 17 June, ten civic and Opposition leaders from [siolo, Marsabit and Moyale petitioned the Government 'to state the identity of the group behind the planting of land mines in Moyale District' (Standard 18/6/99). The Government has made no statement. And in his article entitled 'Conflicts derail land mines ban in Africa' (Nation 7/8/99), Lt-
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Which is exactly what happened. As we so often found, the grapevine turned out to be remarkably correct.
OPERATION OLF-OUT The military was beefed up and a week alter they exploded, the landmines hit the headlines. It was reported (Nation 19/5/99) that not only bomb experts but 2000 troops and 4 helicopters were sent 'to defuse mines'. (The Standard did not carry the story until two days later, and then mentioned only the 4 helicopters and 'a contingent of military men'.) We got to Moyale that afternoon and talked with friends who live in a house overlooking the airstrip. This morning there was a lot of activity on the airstrip. Two heavily armed army helicopters, British Lennoxes, took off. We watched them heading west along the border, flying very low, obviously making a reconnaissance/patrol flight. An army camp was set up at the end of the airstrip at the edge of Marsabit town. 51 One week later, the press ran a story under the misleading headline Military starts defusing mines in which the correspondent reported that the police in Moyale had confirmed that A joint military operation to flush out bandits involved in laying landmines on the Marsabit/Moyale highway has begun. The correspondent went on to comment The Office of the President, under whose docket the minister in charge of internal security and provincial administration falls, has been tight- lipped on the matter for the past two weeks. (Nation 26/5/99) And thus a major operation was launched by the Kenya army and police against the OLF. As we have already pointed out, according to the OAU agreements no member country should allow its territory to be used for staging attacks against another. The OLF was not declared an illegal organization in Kenya but armed OLF fighters could have been legitimately
Colonel Jan Karnenju carefully covered his bets by writing Recent developments in mine warfare have seen the mining of Kenyan territory by the Ethiopians (and/or the Oromos) on the on-going Oromo/Ethiopia conflict. 51 It might not have been coincidental that there was a sudden change in the civilian administration, with Joash Miyoma replacing Lucas Kosilbet as DC Marsabit.
103 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED arrested for carrying unlicensed weapons. However, the Kenya government preferred to gloss over the whole operation by referring to the OLF militia as 'bandits'. Up until this time, the Gabra had tried to stay clear of any involvement with the OLF, for although the Gabra speak the same Oromo language as the Borana, they do not consider themselves Oromo to the same cultural extent. Security was one of the topics discussed in the remarkable pan-Gabra Conference (Kora Dibbe Shaani) held in February 1998 and 'the following conclusions were made in the plenary assembly'. Gabra live in areas on the Kenya-Ethiopian border. Many times people from Ethiopia enter our Country to attack people, to raid animals and to poach wild animals. Many times robbery and banditry occur. It is the responsibility of all the Gabra to safeguard the people and the animals in our Nation. Considering that bandits coming from Ethiopia often find food and water in the Gabra villages, the Conference unanimously agree that such bandits should not be accepted in the villages and should be strongly advised to return home. The Conference also unanimously agreed to fully co-operate with the Government in eradicating banditry. Who defines 'bandit' and 'banditry' P The helicopter reconnaissance must have seen a large group of armed OLF fighters heading for Laga Ririba. They arrived at El Adi on 21 May, courteously asked permission to use the wells, bought goods in the little shops and purchased several goats and cattle for their mess. The Gabra saw them as welcome, well-paying visitors. The Kenya army, however, saw them (or had been instructed to see them) as bandits.
22May99 An army/police convoy of 13 vehicles arrived at the well-side village of Balessa (north of North Horr) looking for illegal weapons and, explicitly, the whereabouts of any OLF in the area. Dozens of men were beaten and tortured (see Chapter 5 for the unpleasant details), and three were arrested, two with guns and one with ammunition. They were taken to Marsabit where they were remarkably promptly tried (the former were sentenced to ten years each, the latter to seven years).
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23May99 The same convoy moved on to the even smaller well-village of El Adi (about 20 km south of the border) and launched a major attack on the OLF men camped in the laga. We (including Fr Antony and Cur Galgallo Tuye of North Hon and Cllr Dido Guyo of Balessa) encountered the convoy just leaving. The officer in charge, clearly not happy to see us, said they had just come 'to rid the area of some bandits who were harassing the local people'. Another officer boasted they had killed many and we could 'go and bury them'. As it was dusk by the time we got there, we could not do anything but listen to the account of the battle, how the convoy had rolled in, herded all the villagers and their livestock out of harm's way, and then, with the support of two helicopters from the new Marsabit base, attacked the OLF in the laga and on the lava-strewn plain beyond. Early the next morning, a group of villagers and ourselves went to survey the carnage. We found one man shot dead on the plain and two more lying foot to foot in the laga. Their comrades had come during the night and buried them as best they could with sand and branches, but already birds had pecked out their eyes and they stared at us with empty sockets. The army/police then moved on to the Hun Hills, threatening a major offensive against the OLF fighters now trapped there if they did not surrender. We heard that the OLF commander sent a message to the effect We have nowhere to go. But we are not surrendering. If you want us, come and get us. The Kenyan forces apparently backed down. We heard that the whole expensive, elaborate operation netted one local man, arrested for having an illegal gun. At the same time, a similar OLF-Out operation was launched in the Sololo area. Acting on information that there was an OLF camp at Hoga, a hill south of Sololo Makutano, the Kenya army bombed the area from helicopters. According to our information, although considerable damage was done, there were no deaths and only three men were captured. All three were Kenyans, holding Kenyan ID cards. One was Elema Kanano of Sololo, the father of the Mohammed Elema Kanano who had been arrested on 10 May in Moyale, Ethiopia (see above). His captors are said to
105 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED have taken him 'all over the place' before eventually taking him to court - where he was acquitted. No 'sweep' was made in Sololo village itself, and an overnight surround of Mado Adhi netted no non-residents. But in nearby Golole an Ethiopian Borana named Shukejattani was captured by the police on 28 May and beaten until he went mad. Next day the police took the battered wreck to Sololo Hospital where the staff managed to save his life, but were unable to restore his sanity or his freedom. This is described in more detail in the section on 'Torture' in Chapter 5. All of this was done surreptitiously; the story did not break until operation OLF-Out was virtually over. One of the first public announcerrents was made in Moyale. The area DC, Stephen Kipkibut Isici had ordered the rebels to leave the country during Madaraka Day celebrations IJune 11 alleging that they had caused havoc in the district and created bad relationships between Kenya and Ethiopia... [He] said the Kenyan Government will deal firmly with the rebels adding that security had been beefed up. (Standard 516199)
1June99 Ironically, on the same day, there was a scuffle at Mansile village in the Galgalo Dimtu area, close to the border. According to the press, about 30 OLF militiamen attacked eight Kenya Police Reservists (homeguards); one KPR, Abdulahi Omar was shot in the chest and died instantly. (See Standard 516199.)
1June99 On that same day, but considerably further west, there was a battle between OLF militiamen and the Ethiopian army on the Ethiopian side of the border, It was said that four Ethiopian soldiers and 13 (or 17?) OLF fighters were killed. Five of the OLF survivors, four of them wounded (one seriously), made their way to Dukana where they surrendered themselves to the Kenya police. A rebel spokesman, Abdi Denge Roba, said they dropped out of their group following a fierce battle with Ethiopian forces on 1 June at a place called Gorai in Sidamo Province of southern Ethiopia. (Standard 19/6/99)
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The problem was then, what to do with themP The Dukana police radioed Marsabit to send transport. There was no vehicle 'available'. The Farm Africa team that happened to be in Dukana 'did not want to get involved', nor did the sole private transporter in that remote place.
8June 99 There was an item on the evening news of 8 June that 'the Kenyan army, police and AN are involved in a combined operation to clear the OLF from Marsabit and Moyale Districts'. It stated that 13 OLF had been killed and considerable weaponry seized. The following day the same news appeared in the press. Two Oromo Liberation Front rivals [sici were killed and 13 others captured during an operation by security forces in Moyale District. . the operation has also recovered eight AK-47 rifles and five different types of guns, 4,037 rounds of ammunition, 362 military uniforms and 50 hand grenades. Mr Kipkebut had visited the military camp at Odda where the weapons were displayed to the Press and civic leaders. The DC said the weapons were recovered from OLF rivals [sic] at Hogga Hills in Obbu [Sololo] division. (Nation 9/6/99) When we asked people from Sololo about this operation we were told that, yes, the military had 'attacked' a camp in the bush near Hoga - but it had been abandoned before they got there. 52 One wonders if some of the
52 The OLF's presence in the area had been an open secret for some time, as documented in an article 'Greater Kudus and Aloes' by the rancher and amateur botanist Gildred Powys. Last year 1199611 made another attempt to reach [Umbalol by road, because I was anxious to re-collect the Aloe, and another from F-toga, a massive hill a little nearer Sololo. Sadly, on this occasion, I learnt at the Sololo/Moyale joad junction that Umbalo had become the headquarters for a group of OLF rebels. They were fighting the Tigre- led government of Ethiopia for independence for the Omoro people. We were told that they were friendly re.be's and at worst they would have taken all our tea and sugar. I preferred to remain with our tea and sugar, and I diverted back. (B.allya, vol. 4 no. 3, October 1997, p. 56.) Again one has to ask: after they had been peacefully camping there for three years, did the Kenya government suddenly turn on'them?
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The problem was then, what to do with them P
The Dukaria police radioed Marsabit to send transport. There was no vehicle 'available'. The Farm Africa team that happened to be in Dukana 'did not want to get involved', nor did the sole private transporter in that remote place.
8June 99 There was an item on the evening news of 8 June that 'the Kenyan army, police and APs are involved in a combined operation to clear the OLF from Marsabit and Moyale Districts'. It stated that 13 OLF had been killed and considerable weaponry seized. The following day the same news appeared in the press. Two Oromo Liberation Front rivals Isici were killed and 13 others captured during an operation by security forces in Moyale District. . . the operation has also recovered eight AK-47 rifles and five different types of guns, 4,037 rounds of ammunition, 362 military uniforms and 50 hand grenades. Mr Kipkebut had visited the military camp at Odda where the weapons were displayed to the Press and civic leaders. The DC said the weapons were recovered from OLF rivals Isicl at Hogga Hills in Obbu [Sololol division. (Nation 9/6/99)
When we asked people from Sololo about this operation we were told that, yes, the military had 'attacked' a camp in the bush near Hoga - but it had 52 been abandoned before they got there. One wonders if some of the
52 The OLF's presence in the area had been an open secret for some time, as documented in an article 'Greater Kudus and Aloes' by the rancher and amateur botanist Gildred Powys. Last year 1199611 made another attempt to reach IUmbaloi by road, because I was anxious to re-collect the Aloe, and another from Hoga, a massive hill a little nearer Sololo. Sadly, on this occasion, I learnt at the Sololo/Moyale joad junction that Umbalo had become the headquarters for a group of OLF rebels. They were fighting the Tigre- led government of Ethiopia for independence for the Omoro people. We were told that they were friendly rebe 1s and at worst they would have taken all our tea and sugar. 1
preferred to remain with our tea and sugar, and I diverted back. (Ba/iya, vol. 4110. 3, October 1997, p. 56.) Again one has to ask: after they had been peacefully camping there for three years, did the Kenya government suddenly turn on 'them?
107 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED weapons displayed at Odha might not have come from the Kenya army camp stores! (One also wonders if the paper used the word 'rivals' intentionally, to avoid the contentious 'rebels'.)
14-18June 99 The wounded OLF militiamen who had surrendered in Dukaria were fmally brought down by one of the priests of North Horr, who had gone up to Dukaria on a routine pastoral trip on Friday 11 June. Fr Antony told us he was so distressed at the wounded men's condition that he had said Sunday Mass on Saturday and drove them to North Horr, then on to Marsabit, arriving at the hospital early Monday morning, the 14th. JThe spokesmanJ said they will seek political asylum in Kenya or elsewhere. (Standard 19/6199) The men (except the one seriously injured) were taken to court in Marsabit, where their case, with atypical promptness, was heard on 18Jurie. Jatani Huka Galgao [sic], Wario Wako Hukayo, Galgalo Doyo Huka and Abdi Denge Roba, all members of the Oromo Liberation Front, [were] charged with being in Kenya illegally. The charges read that on June 11, this year, the four were found at North Hon Divisioii without any valid document to be in the country. The magistrate ruled they be jailed for a year and thereafter be repatriated to Ethiopia. (Nation 2 1/6/9 9)
So much for asylum. But they got off more lightly than their comrades who had been killed in the battle of El Adi.
20.June 99 While on operation OLF-Out at Forole, the Kenya army captured a Kenyan Gabra named Wako Koru Borara on the suspicion of being a member of the OLF. They beat him nearly to death, fracturing his limbs and, it is said, castrating him. He was taken to Moyale where according to the last report we received he is still in prison. Wako Koru had been raised by a relative in Sololo, Elema Kanano, whose son Mohammed had been arrested in Moyale, Ethiopia on 10 May and who had himself just been arrested at Hoga (see above). The following month, the Ethiopian Embassy wrote to the Kenya press to say
108 INTERNATIONAL BORDER AND OROMO FACTOR
We... wish to state that we take exception to the claim that civil strife is raging in southern Ethiopia. There is no civil strife in any part of Ethiopia. Indeed this allegation came as a great surprise to us... The fact that some disgruntled terrorist elements were recently brought to justice by a North Eastern isici Kenya court after bemg found in possession of weapons which included AK47 rifles does not in any way suggest, even remotely, that there is civil strife in southern Ethiopia. In any case, the issue of terrorist elements operating along the Ethiopian-Kenyan border is seriously being addressed by the two governments. (Nation 17/7/99)
By mid-July, operation OLF-Out seemed over, but the government was still putting pressure on the OLF by threatening to arrest anyone wh3 aided them, as the following makes clear.
19July99 Marsabit DC, Joash Miyoma has told the residents of Ferole [sic] location of Maikona Division at the border of Kenya and Ethiopia not to give sanctuary to Oromo Liberation Front rebels. The DC said those who offer criminals shelter would be arrested and charged with accomplice [sicJ.. . Miyoma, who was accompanied by the district security team was addressing a public rally [date not given] at Ferole some 200 km from Marsabit town. (Standard 17/7/99)
But nothing was done to halt the incursions of the Ethiopians.
We received a personal communication which said that in early July, a man named Nuro from Mado Adi was captured at his home and taken to Bokulu Boma (the interrogation centre across the border). There he was confined in a cell and interrogated (though not beaten). The Ethiopians were claiming he gave the OLF shelter and food. He said I categorically agreed I gave them food because they (the OLFI had guns. I told them, even you, my captors, I gave milk because I had to, because you had guns.
After three days Nuro was released and returned home.
To justify the attacks on the OLF, the organization is now being blamed for most unpleasant incidents in the north, not only the Bagalla massacre. Under
109 INTERNATIONAL BORDER AND OROMO FACTOR
We ... wish to state that we thke exception to the claim that civil strife is raging in southern Ethiopia. There is no civil strife in any part of Ethiopia. Indeed this allegation came as a gTeat surprise to us... The fact that some disgruntled terrorist elements were recently brought to justice by a North Eastern isici Kenya court after being found in possession of weapons which included AK47 rifles does not in any way suggest, even remotely, that there is civil strife in southern Ethiopia. In any case, the issue of terrorist elements operating along the EthiopiamKenyan border is seriously being addressed by the two governments. (Nation 17/7/99) By mid-july, operation OLF-Out seemed over, but the government was still putting pressure on the OLF by threatening to arrest anyone wh. 3 aided them, as the following makes clear.
19July99 Marsabit DC, Joash Miyoma has told the residents of Ferole [sic] location of Maikona Division at the border of Kenya and Ethiopia not to give sanctuary to Oromo Liberation Front rebels. The DC said those who offer criminals shelter would be arrested and charged with accomplice [sicJ. . . Miyoma, who was accompanied by the district security team was addressing a public rally [date not givenJ at Ferole some 200 km from Marsabit town. (Standard 17/7/99) But nothing was done to halt the incursions of the Ethiopians. We received a personal communication which said that in early July, a man named Nuro from Mado Adi was captured at his home and taken to Bokulu Boma (the interrogation centre across the border). There he was confined in a cell and interrogated (though not beaten). The Ethiopians were claiming he gave the OLF shelter and food. He said I categorically agreed I gave them food because they [the OLFI had guns. I told them, even you, my captors, I gave milk because I had to, because you had guns. After three days Nuro was released and returned home. To justify the attacks on the OLF, the organization is now being blamed for most unpleasant incidents in the north, not only the Bagalla massacre. Under
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large headlines screaming 4 lulled as gunmen attack Garissa area the correspondent wrote Heavily-armed Borana gunmen yesterday attacked a 'manyatta' in Banajie Township of Garissa District and shot dead four people, injuring
several others seriously. .. . Lagdera MP Mohammed Shindiye, in whose backyard the killing took place, however claims that the massacre was committed by the dreaded Oromo Liberation Front (OMF) Isici from Ethiopia... . If his accusations are true, this will be the second time in two years that the rebel OMF have crossed over into Kenyan territory and massacred civilians with abandon. Only in 1998 the OMF militia have killed a record 249 rsicl people when they crossed over and raided Bagalla in Wajir. . . . Eyewitnesses said that the raiders had crossed back to Isiolo after they accomplished their Noody mission. (People 25/7/99)
For a change, 'security personnel' seem to be doing their job - with a vengeance. Shindiye 'claimed that the raiders had taken off with 200 heads of goats and cattle from the village'. Four paragraphs on, the reporter quotes North Eastern PC Maurice Makhanu as saying 'security personnel had recovered ... 800 heads of cattle'.
What is even more interesting is that although the eyewitnesses saw the raiders crossing back to Isiolo, the reporter described them as 'the dreaded Oromo Liberation Front from Ethiopia'. 54 Since 1962, banditry in the north was automatically blamed on 'Somali shiftas'. Now it would seem that the Kenya government is using a new scapegoat for the raids and killings in the north that it cannot, or will not, control. Vide the following reports that came to our attention.
4August9[) Two startling incidents took place which received only brief mention in the regional column of the Standard (5/8/99) and none at all in the other papers. Ex-cop shot dead as Oromo militiamen terrorise Moyale An ex-police officer was yesterday shot dead and three other people seriously wounded when five heavily-armed men believed to be Oromo
53 We reiterate our caution about the People. That it can blithely write 'Oromo Liberation Front (OMF)' indicates a certain disregard for accuracy. 54 It is noteworthy, however, that while both the Nation and Standard also reported the incident 011 the same day, neither mentioned 'any OLF connection.
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Liberation Front (OLF) rebels tenonsed the border town of Moyale for 20 minutes. The rebels who struck at 1.115 pm sprayed four bullets into Luge Dibe's chest at close range... The incident occurred 15 metres from the Moyale Police Station. The rebels also shot an Ethiopian citizen identified as Mohammed Dika, who sustained broken legs and was taken to Moyale District Hospital. About 10 minutes later, another group of rebels... sprayed five bullets on two women traders.. . at the market... identified as Halima Ibrahim and Halima Galgalo. Galgalo is a younger sister to Moyale County Council Chairman Golicha Galgalo Bodicha. Police who were caught off-guard during the lunch hour incident tried to chase the rebels but in vain.
6August99 Yet when the Ethiopian army again crossed into Kenya, it rated only a few lines at the end of a large-headlined article about a clash in Garissa. More than 30 armed Ethiopian soldiers ... met with police on escort duties in Dambala Fachana but no exchange of fire ensued. The soldiers said they were pursuing OLF militia who had attacked a manyatta in Ethiopia. (Standard 9/8/99)
12August99 At about 7:30 in the evening a prominent Borana businessman, Qala Wako Bere, was killed instantly when shot at close range thrice in the chest and face, not far from his shop in Marsabit town. It was said the killing wa. connected to the OLF, and the town became very tense. Eight days later it was announced in the press that three suspects (unnamed) had been arrested. (Nation 15/8/99, 22/8/99) It later came out by the grapevine that two days before Qala Wako was murdered two Ethiopian military vehicles had been seen going from Moyale to Marsabit. It was (cx post facto) suspected that they were, if not the actual killers, at least the organizers of the assassination. But as we have seen in Chapter 3, subsequent assassinations put a different complexion on this one.
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22August99 There was a new round of fighting on the border just west of Moyale (though the Standard put the report in its North Eastern column). Police yesterday recovered the bodies of two Ethiopian soldiers killed in the fighting between Oromo liberation Front and Ethiopian government troops along the Kenya/Ethiopian border... . The forces are exchanging heavy artillery fire at Tukain Ethiopia, two Kilometres from the Kenyan border. (Standard 23/8/99)
30August99 Three men - Abdi Adow, Ibrahim Mohammed and Abdullahi Mohammed - were kidnapped from Godoma (some 25 km east of Moyale), allegedly by OLF militiamen.
That same evening, a group of Ethiopian soldiers 'sneaked into Kenya' and attacked the police post of Gurar (Wajir district). In the attack, they injured Senior Chief Abdikadir Gedow and a village elder, Yarow Chichana, who were both rushed to Moyale hospital. The local MP, Dr Abdullahi Mi, told the press the Ethiopian soldiers crossed the border to terronse Kenyan residents for allegedly harbounng OLF rebels. (Standard 2/9/99) Unconfirmed reports said the soldiers were on a revenge mission for the abduction of three Kenyans by OLF militiamen three days ago in Moyale IDistricti. (Nation 2/9/99)
There was no mention of any response by the Kenyan government to the incursion, which the Ethiopian government did not deny. It merely denied claims that its soldiers are terrorizing Kenyans for allegedly harbouring OLF rebels. (Nation 4/9/99)
In early September there were more reports of a large group of OLF militiamen around the border east of Moyale. As at El Adi, the locals had no complaints about their behaviour. Earlier, residents in Tabaka Division had told the journalist that some 200 heavily armed Oromo liberation Front rebels were seen heading towards the Ethiopian border. However, the residents said the group did not attack them. (Nation 10/9/99)
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11 September99 Nevertheless, four civic leaders from Mandera held a press conference there to complain simply that Kenya is harbouring Oromo Liberation Front rebels from Ethiopia. the leaders claimed that the rebels had set up base in five areas in Wajir District with the knowledge of the provincial administration. (Nation 13/9/99) They gave the number of rebels as 'more than 480'. One of the places they named was Kaar Goola, six kilometres south of Gurar, the little administrative centre which had been attacked by Ethiopian troops on 30 August, Efforts by the Nation correspondent to contact the PC, Maurice Makhanu, were 'unsuccessful'. But the DC Wajir, Fred Mutsarni, 'denied the presence of OLF rebels', and an OLF spokesman, Col. Godana Bitacha, also immediately refuted the accusation, saying OLF wishes to clearly point out there is no base in Kenya accorded to the Oromo Liberation Front in the past, now and even in the future. (Nation 15/9/99) One suspects the difference of opinion may stem from different definitions of the word 'base'.
18 September99 On this date, the following few lines appeared in the press. Two suspected Ethiopian Revolutionary Defence Forces soldiers were seriously wounded when they exchanged fire with police in Moyale. (Standard 19/9/99) Although we were unable to get any details, it shows that the situation is not calming down.
3November99 Another prominent person, this time a Gabra, was gunned down in Marsabit This was Sora Qere, an elderly doctor and also the chairman of the NGO called PISP; a man greatly liked and respected by people of all communities in town. He was shot dead outside his clinic shortly after dusk. The grapevine immediately sprouted with the news that the gunmen were Borana revenging the murder of Qala Wako Bere three months earlier (12
113 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
August) who had also been killed right in town just after dark. According to this grapevine Qala Wako had been murdered by hitmen in the employ of the Ethiopian authorities; these hitmen were Gabra. But another twist of grapevine suggests both victims had been killed by the same people. Marsabit Town residents are living in fear, following reports that a hit squad had been sent from a neighbouring countiy to cause discontent among the local commuRity. (Nation 11/11/99)
114 5 The roles of the Kenya government and the nation's media
The government's failure to counter Ethiopian aggression; The 1996/97 report concluded that the government had thiled to either ensure free movement of people across the border or to preserve Kenya's territorial integrity. It had refused to deliver official protests to the Ethiopian government about most of the cross-border incursions, particularly those in which the Ethiopian army has been involved. In erly 1997 the then MP for Moyale and Assistant Minister for Industry and Commerce, Mohammed Galgalo, told the KHRC team when they interviewed him in Nairobi (3 February 1997) I personally appealed to Mr Wilfred Kirnalat in the Office of the President. Although he promised to ask the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to present a protest note to the Ethiopian government, nothing was done. All my appeals seem frustrated, The Hon. Mohammed Galgalo was so frustrated that he defected from the ruling party, KANU, shortly thereafter, and joined one of the opposition parties, Ford-Kenya. We looked into the matter and found that although it is commonly said that the abductions and arrests of Kenyan citizens by Ethiopians are generally ignored by the Kenyan authorities, clearly the DC Moyale does sometimes take action. According to one police officer in Moyale (interviewed 20 September 1996), who requested anonymity, the Kenya police force had intervened on several occasions. I have personally been forced to cross the border to negotiate the release of abducted Kenyans which inevitably proves to be very difficult. Once a person is kidnapped or abducted, s/he either disappears or we are forced to pay a fIne for the release. In most cases we are not given areasoii for the abduction but the general belief is that it is because of reaor imagined support for the OLF. Our efforts, on the whole., have been largely unsuccessful. But some are successful.
11.5 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
We have mentioned in the chronology of incidents in the previous chapter that the DC Moyale expedited the release of Halake Jib, Abudo Guyo and Mi Wako of Dambala Fachana (arrested in Ethiopia while trying to retrieve their cattle which had been stolen in July 1998). The DC Moyale also got Jillo Budha of Uran (captured 25 April 1999) released. The case of John Iya Ibrae (arrested in Ethiopia in February 1999) is another example of effective intervention. The most recent we heard of involved a little riding mule, the only mule resident in Sololo (which we hire when we are there). Abba Gange ('Father of the Mule') Guyo Kiya, a distinguished-looking, rather frail old gentleman told us the story. (He could not give exact dates but it seems his misadventure began in late October.) It was because of this drought that Billacha (Butterfly) went up to the highlands above Waye Goda and crossed into Ethiopia, where I bought her from years ago. I followed her, together with my friend SQia Dima. We were stopped by Tigray who pointed their guns at us. When they asked where we were from and I told them Sololo, they said everyone in Sololo is a 'shifta', bandits, which is what they call OLF. I said I had nothing to do with OLF, I was too old for fighting and they could kill me if they wanted, like they killed Abba Gada [the traditional leader of the Boraiia, murdered by Tigray.] They took us and my mule to the military camp at Gombisa and they locked us in a dark cell with other people and made my mule carry loads like a donkey. IHorses and mules are greatly honoured, 'like people', by the Borana and are protected by traditional laws.J They didn't give us any food in the cells, we had to arrange with the Borana around to bring food for us. (I still owe them some money.) I was kept there for 28 days, then they took me to their military camp at Moyale-Ethiopia. Guyo Kiya's family had immediately heard of his arrest and reported it to the Chief, the DO Sololo and the DC Moyale who contacted the Ethiopian authorities requesting the old man's release. After 16 days in Moyale (the first eight in another dark cell) I was released. I went to the DC to complain that the Tigray still had my mule. Without my mule I am dead. He wrote me a letter with a rubber stamp. A lorry gave me a free lift to Sololo. There the DO wrote me another letter with a rubber stamp. I took those letters and went back to
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Gombisa and the Tigray had to give me my mule back. I am really gTateful to the DC (Kipkebut) and DO (Wanjohi). When we got to Sololo we found old Abba Gange and his beloved little Billacha had arrived back just a few days earlier. Both looked well, particularly remarkable since the old man suffers from hypertension at the best of times. Sora Dima, who had been released earlier, is also safely back in Sololo. On 27 January, more than a fortnight after the imam of Moyale, Haji Hassan Sheikh AU, was murdered by Ethiopians (lOjanriary), the DC Moyale, Stephen Kipkebut, fmally held talks on security matters with Ethiopian security officials. (Nation 28/1/99) Ironically, although President Moi paid a one-day visit to Ethiopia on 28 January, it was (according to press reports) to discuss the border problem between Ethiopia and Eritrea, not that between Ethiopia and Kenya. In February six MPs from Marsabit, Moyale and Isiolo districts had met with the Eastern PC. The closed-door meeting at the PC's boardroom was meant to discuss security along the KenyfEthiopia border in the wake of the recent violence in the area. (Nation 11/2/99) Nothing, apparently, was done and, as can be seen from the chronology in the previous chapter, the violence rapidly worsened. Subsequent to the Ethiopian army's attack on Waye Goda on 10 March, the press reported that On Thursday [11 March], a Foreign Affairs ministry spokesman said the Kenyan Government will officially complain to Ethiopia over the attack. (Standard 13/3/99) We could find no record of any such formal complaint having been made. If one was, it went unheeded, for five days later, on the 16th, a prominent Borana elder was assassinated at Uran. At that, leaders from northern Kenya, led by the MP for Moyale, Dr Guracha Galgallo urged the government to... expel the Ethiopian ambassador to Kenya. and recall the Kenyan ambassador. . . . They urged the residents to arm themselves since the government had failed to protect them from external aggression. (Nation 18/3/99)
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Neither ambassador was recalled. But it is likely that the residents heede1 the suggestion to arm themselves. It was not until June, after operation OLF-Out had swept the border area, that Kenya and Ethiopia got around to holding border talks. The North Eastern Provincial Commissioner, Maurice Makhanu said yesterday that Kenya will not accept land mine planting along the Kenya- Ethiopia border.. . . Mr Makhanu is the head of a high-powered Kenya delegation that includes his Eastern counterpart Mr Nicholas Mberia. Others were... They are to attend the 18th Ethio-Kenya joint border commissioners-Administrators committee currently sittmg at Nazareth, Ethiopia. Also in the delegation are BrigJoseph Kasaoni, DOD and Mr A. Asoi, Deputy Commissioner of police in-charge of operations at the headquarters among others. (Nation 12/6/99) However, in a meeting held to petition the government to state the identity of the group responsible for planting the Iandmines in Moyale District Ten civic and Opposition leaders from Isiolo, Marsabit and Moyale dismissed last week's high level security summit between Kenyan and Ethiopian officials at Nazareth. (Standard 18/6/99) The conclusions reached at these border talks have never been made public. But it would seem from the evidence that the Kenyans authorized the Ethiopians to continue acting on this side of the border, or at least agreed to continue to turn a blind eye, and at times cooperated. But sometimes complaints have been registered.
In July we noticed the following curious news under the large headline Bandits abduct three Kenyans Suspected Ethiopian bandits from the Oromo Liberation Army last weekend abducted three Kenyan pastoralists at the Mado Idi (sic) border point. . . . The bandits travelled with their victims to Anona village in Moyale (sic) where they released them. . . . Consequently, the Moyale DC, Stephen Kipkebut, held a security committee meeting in Moyale where he accused the Ethiopian government of external aggression. The DC said the government has launched official complaints to the Ethiopian government over the abduction incident. (People 15/7/99) 55
55 According to KHRC analysis, The People Daily is one of time less reliable of Kenya's newspapers. Nevertheless, what it reports is being read.
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If the first sentence is true, it was the first time we have heard of the OLF abducting anyone on Kenyan soil. The fact that the DC lodged a formal complaint with the Ethiopian government would indicate, however, that the abduction was done not by the OLF but by the Ethiopian army. Such actions, and lack of actin, provoked Abba Qapsoo of Moyale to write to the press. Moyale District security personnel are harassing innocent Kenyans for allegedly being sympathetic to the Ethiopian rebels. The worst hit are the Oromos who live in Moyale. They are always treated as criminals.... The provincial administration has also repatriated Oromos who are thought to be a thorn to the Ethiopian government. Some of the repatriated people have been executed after arriving in Ethiopia. . .. It is imperative to do the following in order to solve the problems beleaguering residents of the area. • Punish administrators and the security personnel who act as the Ethiopim security agents; • The Ethiopian government military must be stopped from carrying out security operations in northern Kenya. This is tantamount to selling the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Kenya. (Standard 30/8/99) The Embassy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in Nairobi immediately denied at length the allegations. There has not been any occasion when the Kenyan provincial administration has repatriated Oromos (Kenyan) living in Moyale town for the purpose of being executed in Ethiopia.... It is ridiculous for IQapsool to allege that the Ethiopian Government is carrying out security operations in Kenya. The Ethiopian Government respects the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Kenya and has no intention of breaching this. (Standard 1/9/99) There is however, as we have seen, considerable evidence to the contrary. This failure of the Kenya government to act against incursions by the Ethiopian army has been highlighted in sharp contrast to the same government's prompt reaction to a single small incident on its border with Somalia when on 29 June 1999 a band of freelance militiamen from Somalia crossed the border and attacked a Kenya army platoon near the Amuria border post.
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Sources said two live-ton lorries and several G3 rifles were snatched from 23 soldiers who were on a routine surveillance. (Nation 2/7/99) Although there were no casualties, no Kenyans wounded, let alone killed, the government's response was immediate; The Somali militia holding Kenya Army vehicles and ammunition yesterday got a stem warning - return the property or face the
consequences. .. . The Somali militia had until last evening to return the arms and other property. (Nation 2/7/99) Next day there were banner headlines Somalis yield to Kenya's might Contrite Somali militiamen yesterday surrendered the Kenyan military equipment they had commandeered and apologized to the government.. The incident prompted the Kenya Government to flex its military might by massing troops, artillery tanks and flying fighter jets along the border with Somalia. The reaction seemed quite extraordinary - until one read further in the same article. Intelligence sources believe the attack on the Kenya security forces by Somali militiamen was stage-managed so that the government would close its border, which it did, to keep out the OLF fighters from entering Kenya. (Na/ion 3/7/99) The border was reopened briefly, then closed again on 23 August 1999. In contrast to the furor over the bloodless Amuna incident, when a group of Ethiopian soldiers subsequently crossed into Kenya on 30 August and attacked the police post at Gurar (see Chapter 4) and wounded the chief and his guest, there was virtually no outcry. The press reported it briefly, adding Unconfirmed reports said the soldiers were on a revenge mission for the abduction of three Kenyaris by OLF militiamen three days ago iii Moyale IDistricti. (Nation 2/9/99) In the same week in Maridera 'bandits' opened fire on a vehicle in which nine journalists were travelling with the Mandera West MP. After its highly publicized retaliation against the Somalis for making off with some Kenyari militaiy equipment, the government's refusal to take any action provoked an outspoken editorial.
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Border flare-ups; Protect Kenyans For how long will Kenyans bear the brunt of Ethiopian gang fights that have continued to spill over into the Kenyan soil leaving in its wake untold suffering to the local communities?. The attacks in most cases are perpetrated by foreign invaders and calls for this country's military intervention. Indeed it has been established that the intruders are actually soldiers from another country who come to attack those they perceived to be hosting their enemies. Their action is therefore unwarranted aggression. The Kenyan nationals in the border areas in question must be assured of security and freedom from aggression. This will above all things restore their sense of belonging as Kenyan citizens, something which has apparently been betrayed many times. (Standard 15/9/99) They are truly the forgotten people!
THE HORN OF AFRICA CONFLICTS The failure of the Kenya government to halt incursions by the Ethiopian army, together with its recent operation OLF-Out, has far-reaching implications, as far-reaching as Eritrea and Somalia. Wittingly or not, the government is allowing itself to be drawn into three major, intertwined bloody conflicts in the Horn of Africa; the war between Ethiopia and Eritrea, the war between Ethiopia and Somalia, and the civil war within Somalia. As soon as the war between Eritrea and Ethiopia broke out in June 1998 people we talked with in northern Kenya were jubilant. They foresaw that the Ethiopian army would be so engaged on that far-away front that they would virtually withdraw from the south and leave the border in peace. It was not to be. The Ethiopians began conscripting young men from the south into the army, to send them north to the Eritreari front. Many managed to escape; when a contingent of men from Tuka were sent there last year, most, we were told, 'ran away to the forest'. But five were killed in Eritrea. By using Borana men as fodder for Eritrean cannons, the Ethiopians were neatly killing two birds with one stone. Around mid-July this year there was, we were told, an influx of young Ethiopian men across the border into Kenya - young men escaping conscription. But other young men from the south were, allegedly, going
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north voluntarily, north to join the Eritreans. Now, it seemed, the OLF and Eritrea were actually supporting one another against their common enemy. The Eritreans were said to be supplying the OLF with arms and ammunition in return for OLF militiamen joining the ranks of the Eritreans. At the same time, the OLF were alleged to be siding with one Somali faction, that of Hussein Aideed, in return for getting arms supplied through Somalia. When the imam of Moyale was assassinated in Januaiy 1999, it was said, as we noted, that the imam was helping the OLF by funnelling aid from Arab countries that was coming in via Kisimayu. And, according to sources in Mogadishu Aideed gave the Oromos a base near the Indian Ocean port of Merca. (Nation 28/7/99) And so the Horn of Africa has become the battleground of a three-sided nflicL Ethiopia has sent an estimated 3,000 troops into Somalia to attack Mdeed's forces because he backs the OLF. (People 13/7/99) Accusations and denials fly back and forth. Eritrea rejected an Ethiopian allegation that it was supporting the Oromo Liberation Front rebels opposed to the government of Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. Ethiopia said on Tuesday 124/8/991 that Eritrea supplied arms and ammunition to the OLE . . . 'We don't have any involvement (with the 0L1),' Eritrean ambassador to Nairobi Ghirmai Ghebremariam told Reuters. 'This (accusation) is a total fabrication and it is an Ethiopian ploy to not implement the peace process.' (Nation 26/8/99) In October there had been meetings between Aideed and the Ethiopian government and subsequently there was a public disarmament 'ceremony' in Mogadishu. On 28 November Aideed's spokesmen said they had disarmed 108 OLF rebels and closed their office in Mogadishu in order to improve the faction's relations with Ethiopia. Three days later an international press agency reported from Mogadishu that Somali warlord Hussein Aideed today stood accused of faking the disarmament of more than 100 Ethiopian rebels and of giving guns to refugees in order to put on a show of taking them away. (Nation 1/12/99)
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Whatever the truth of the matter, because of the Kenya government's active military support for Ethiopia against the OLF, Kenya is in danger of becoming far more involved in the Horn of Africa conflicts than it will be able to handle - and certainly more than its citizens, plagued and impoverished by innumerable internal problems, would wish. There could be a simple explanation. Individuals in the Kenya government had recently been accused of allegedly selling the Kurdish leader, Abdullah Ocalan, to the Turks. Now some people are saying the OLF has similarly been sold to the Ethiopians. 56 Some twists of the grapevine seem to be tightening around the DC Moyale, Stephen Kipkebut, a down-country appointee whom some describe as a 'collaborator' with the Ethiopians, the person behind the operation OLF- Out. That he has good relations with the Ethiopians is evident from the fact that he has managed to get several Kenyaris such as John Iya Ibrae, Jillo Budha and Guyo Kiya (and his mule) released from their jails.
The promotion of ethnic separatism by officials and politicians The 1996/97 KHRC team found that tribal separatism was being openly promoted by government representatives, both elected and appointed, in northern Kenya. As they said, this is a matter of grave concern. Politicians further their personal interests under the pretext of defending the interests of their particular communities. As a result, voting is along ethnic lines. As a consequence, the ethnic clashes (described in Chapter 3) are exacerbated, sometimes even caused by government officials. The administration favours some groups over others; the police and the army administer justice along ethnic lines. This has encouraged ethnic consciousness, raised ethnic tension. No longer is rustling in northern Kenya simply a method of obtaining livestock and prestige. It has grown into clashes, which naturally are retaliatory, which verge on 'ethnic cleansing' as communities protect what they view as their integrity and independence.
56 The price bruited for Ocalan's betrayal was US $5 million (Sh 300 million.) See Finance of 6 June 1999 for detailed coverage of the incident and the heated debate in parliament on 5 May.
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Each ethnic group blames other groups for the tension. The result, as can be seen from the incidents listed in Chapter 3, is a vicious cycle of violent raids. Here we give a few examples of how government officials and political leaders are, allegedly, involved. The 1996/97 KHRC team found that the then DC of Moyale, Mr Ole Legei, was accused of intimidating and harassing members of the local Borana community. The Borana leaders made a complaint against the DCon 5 September 1995. On 4 May 1996 they met with him in his office. In their subsequent (29 May) letter to the Office of the President headed 'Complain against DC Moyale', they quote Ole Legei as having told them the local Boranas would be chased to Ethiopia the same way they were chased from Mandera long ago by Somalis. And that they could go and complain anywhere they liked and that it would make no difference because he was 'being protected by big fishes'. The signatories of the letter (reproduced in full as Appendix 1 of the 1996/97 report), headed by the then MP Moyale, Mohammed Galgalo, with CllrJarso Jillo Godana (Sololo), Cur Golicha Galgalo (Butiye) and others, went on to say (among many other bitter things) The DC has also formed an alliance of Gare, Gabra and Bul]i communities in order to intimidate and evict the local Borana community from their ancestral land at Moyale.... He has formed a Nyaina Choma club with some departmental heads and town tycoons where they eat meat on weekends at different places where ways and means of turning other heads of departments against Borana community is hatched. By the time the 1996/9 7 report was published, about eight months later, they had received no response. 57 The message, however, may have gotten through, for alter the report was published, Legei was replaced. 58
57 See Appendices 1 and 2 in the 1997 report. 58 His immediate replacement lasted only briefly, and in 1998 was replaced by Stephen Kipkebut.
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The present DC, Stephen Kipkebut, has come in for similar criticism. Abba Qapsoo of Moyale wrote an open letter to Dr Leakey, recently appointed the head of the civil service, in which he said one is surprised by the biased and ruthless action of the Moyale District Security Council (DSC) spearheaded by the district commissioner... innocent Kenyan citizens are being subjected to harassment... in contravention of basic human rights. (People 23/9/99)
In Marsabit, on the other hand, the incumbent MP was helping his fellow Borana to get the upper hand. In 1995, things began hotting up as the Borana were scheduled to hold their Gadamoji ceremony in June-July. The MarsabitJilla Gadamoji had originally been held on the northwest slopes of the mountain, but the subsequent ceremonies had been held further east, near Dirib Gombo, some 15 km southeast of Marsabit town. The hillock overlooking the site became known as Kubi Gadaxfloji, Gadamoji Peak, but now all that area had been taken over by Budi farmers, and even the site of the ceremonial village had been planted with maize.
The Borana began threatening the Buiji, telling them to 'get out'.
As Eikalo records in his thesis In 1995 the MP for Saku constituency of Marsabit District [James Jib Falana, a Borana, a Christian turned Muslim, commonly known as JJ, who had been elected MP in 19881 called upon the Boran community to defend themselves against 'their enemies', who are considered to be Buiji, Rendille, and Gabbra. He said, 'we are being surrounded by enemies and, therefore, we should be alert and defend ourselves.' What did he mean by 'surrounded by enemies? This was an incitement to the Boran community. This was a provocation. At another time he led a demonstration to the District Commissioner's office in Marsabit, claiming the Boran are being harassed by the government. Those who took part in the demonstration were from the Boran Community exclusively. The police tried to disperse the crowd, but the people went to the extent of trying to grab the guns from the police, and in the course of that, one person was killed and several injured. It was one of the most ugly incidents in Marsabit town. However, the worst part of this was to witness a leader, chosen by all the communities, threatening to shoot other communities. (Eikalo 1998: 54)
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The situation became very tense, so tense there was talk that the ceremony might not be held at all. But in the end, all the Buiji families abandoned their fields and their homesteads and left the land clear for the Borana to hold their ceremony, which went off without incident. It so happened that the chief of Dirib Gombo, in which location the ceremony was held, was a young man by the name of Abdi Tarn. Susura. Although also a Borana himself, he was distressed to see the hard-working Burji of his area chased away. In due course he decided to stand for the KANU nomination under the banner 'Let All The Tribes Unitel' and he became popularly known as LATTU. Meetings and processions were held, Young LATFU's support was visible. The processions were led by an elderly lame Garreh, Abdulahi Mi, riding his bright bay pony (one of the only three ponies in Marsabit). The KANU elections were held on 17 November 1997 and people came out in droves to stand in the pouring rain at the Catholic Church compound to vote. Young LATTU soundly defeated the incumbent, James Jillo Falana, who had been in power since 1988. JJ apparently could not believe it, and he managed to have the election re-held two days later, this time in the sports ground. This time he was even more soundly defeated! When the national elections were held (27 December), young LATTU was a clear winner. When Abdulahi All was murdered less than two months later, some people we talked with initially suspected it was a political assassination. To counter the large Borana confederation, the Rendille, Gabra and Buiji formed an informal alliance called REGABU. The 1996/97 KHRC team was told that this alliance was backed fmancially by the MP for North Horn, Dr Bonaya Godana, (then the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, now the Minister of Foreign Affairs), a Gabra, and the MP for Laisarnis, Robert Kochalle, a Rendille. Although REGABU was unregistered and Dr Bonaya, when he was interviewed by the team on 30 January 1997, firmly denied its existence, three independent community leaders and numerous residents also interviewed by the team confirmed its existence. It was blamed, among other things for 'influencing the administration of justice'. A KHRC monitor in Marsabit observed Cattle raids and shoplifting f stocklifting?J are common here. The police round people up randomly often arresting innocent people. Raids on the Rendille by the Boran and vice versa are also common. Every time the Boran attack the Rendille, IBorani people are arrested and tortured.
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When the Rendille attack the Boran, however, there is no follow-up. REGABU is even influencing the administration of justice. This seemed to be true, for the KHRC team's research did not unveil a single instance in which the Kenya police investigated a raid upon the Borana while investigations of raids against the Rendille, such as the Kituruni massacre, were quite common. (See the account of the Galma family.) The Burji-Rendille alliance, whether formal or not, was shot apart by that unfortunate incident of 19 March 1999 when a couple of Rendille warriors attacked three cash-laden local Buiji cattle dealers, killing one, injuring another, and stealing the large sum of money the dead man had been carrying. As a Rendille in Marsabit, who prefers to remain anonymous, explained to us: The policy is to eliminate the Rendille. Since the 1992 incident at Kituruni, about 42 or 43 Rendille have been killed in Marsabit area. The police, the APs, no one has taken any action to bring the culprits to book. There would seem to be some powerful people behind the incidents. Most of the incidents took place when FalanaJJ was MP. Before then, the relationship between Budi and Rendille had been good. When the Borana had been attacking Buiji, the Burji took their cattle to the Rendille for safekeeping. But recently, the Budi have been siding with the Borana against the Rendille All the people of Northern have voted for KANU. But the KANU government does nothing, and people live- in fear. Yet the government claims Kenya to be a country of peace. Just after Sora Qere was assassinated (3 November 99), GTZ happened to be hosting a conference concerning famine relief to which the Marsabit and Moyale MPs were invited - Dr Bonaya (North Horr), Dr Gurracha (Moyale), Robert Kochalle (Laisamis) and Abdi Susura (Saku/Marsabit). The DC took the opportunity to call a meeting and it was promised that a committee would be formed to look into the recent three killings and the rising ethnic tensions in general. We were told that there had been prayers in the mosques that the murderers be apprehended and we know that on 28 November. a Catholic priest made it the subject of his sermon. But government officials were
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conspicuQusly silent and by the end of the year, the promised committee has still had not been formed. All this has resulted in a general lack of faith in the local authorities and law enforcement officials. As Eikalo wrote in 1998 Sadly, most of our government leaders are no longer respected or trusted because they are corrupt in their decisions.
Failure by the authorities to apprehend criminals and its consequences In virtually all the incidents of murder, theft, rustling and general banditry already detailed, we have been told, and we noted ourselves, that the police have rarely taken any meaningful action to apprehend the culprits. In a workshop on food policy held in Embu, the capital of Eastern Province, in August 1999 the Ntonyiri MP Maoka Maore L said) about 91 per cent of residents in the province experienced cattle rustling, banditry or both, making it difficult for them to concentrate on agricultural activities... . Farmers targeted by rustlers get demoralised and, in most cases, never recover their livestock. Talking to journalists after the workshop, the DP legislator claimed that cattle rustling had the backing of people in authority. (Nation 11/8/99) The sense of insecurity in the province was born out by the findings of a poll commissioned and published by the Nation, in which it transpired that The biggest single wony Kenyans face is their personal security.... When asked to rate the performance of the police in specific areas.. Least satisfied with the police was Eastern Province with only a 27 per cent rating. (Nation 23/3/99) The failure of the police and other authorities to take action encourages, by default, more criminality. This was pointed out in the two seminars the Kenya Pastoralists Forum held in 1997 on security, the first in Maralal, the second in Nairobi. At each of the meetings, a highly charged audience expressed concern over Government security services. The Government's haphazard, brutal and short-term remedies to solve security problems in the areas was
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heavily criticised... . The result is that bandits and rustlers are wreaking havoc. (Nation 12/3/97) We will take three areas as examples of this havoc; the spate of robberies at Sololo, the high rate of incidence of robberies along the main highway, and the Funanyata and Bagalla massacres. We will then look at the few glimmers of light, what the police and other authorities are doing in a positive way.
THE SPATE OF ROBBERIES AT SOLOLO The village of Sololo, despite its bucolic appearance, has been the scene of an astonishing number of plain garden-variety robberies in recent years. The Catholic Church is responsible for much of the development of the village. The Mission has built, and is still sponsoring, most of the schools in the area, while the Diocese runs the excellent little Sololo Catholic Hospital. Yet the Mission has been attacked eight times. After the latest attack, there was talk that the bishop should have threatened to close the hospital.
1994 The Catholic mission was robbed at gunpoint. Shortly after the parish priest, Fr Melaku, returned from Nairobi, carrying considerable cash for salaries, etc., armed robbers managed to break down the door and enter the house. He was forced at gunpoint to hand over the money. This was the fourth time the mission had been attacked. At the father's insistence, the police started posting two guards on the mission compound. But nothing was done to apprehend the robbers.
29Juzic 95 The mission was attacked for the fifth time, this time while we were staying at the guest-house. The attackers had cut the telephone lines, but when Fr Melaku and his frail elderly colleague, Fr Antonio Santinoli, heard the door being battered, they managed to raise the alarm by energetic shouting. When we looked out of the guest-house door to see what was happening, we heard the sound of running footsteps and a couple of shots. The shouting had scared the intruders off. The police were notified. They made no attempt to track the intruders.
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Mid-May 96 An American couple working for FHI in Sololo were robbed of considerable money and goods. We were told they feared to press charges and instead left Sololo. At the time, Fr Angelo d'Apice, who had replaced Fr Melaku as parish priest, told his confrere, Fr Antonio, 'The next time, we will be the ones.' He was, as he said, 'an all too accurate prophet ca/cante, a prophet of calamities'. Fortunately, his sense of foreboding inspired him to take the precaution of stashing the mission money in small amounts in several places.
l2,JuJy 96 The mission was attacked for the sixth time, despite having not only its own two watchmen but the two police as well. The robbers came at 7:15 in the evening, before the police caine on duty. Fr Angelo had been complaining to the OCS about their tardiness I was inside our house with a Borana seminarian called William Wario. The attackers were several, some remained outside with guns and two ciiterecl the house: these two had a pistol and a knife. They were demanding money. The seminarian immediately told one of them, 'I know you, I will report you.' Then I tried to convince them to go away uici not harm us. They became furious and threatened me. The one with the knife Ibilowed inc to my room where I gave him some thousands that I had already put apart.
15,January 97 The two VSO teachers at the Sololo Boys Secondary School, Sarah Bainbridge and Helen Gourlay, were robbed at gun and knife point in their little lainplit house, slightly isolated in the school compound. It was just after dusk and we were brushing our teeth outside. Two men suddenly appeared. One was armed with an AK47, the other with a long dagger. 'Hands up', said the man with the dagger,.'Bring money'. Of course we gave them the little Kenya money we had. It wasn't much, as we'd just paid the carpenter almost all the shillings we had for the month to make us a table, 'I will cut you. That's not enough.' While the gunman kept me covered, Sarah rummaged in the dark with a torch and brought out her travellers' cheques. She explained how they were to be
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used. The robbers turned them down. After locking us inside, the men departed. As soon as it was light the next morning, we managed to get out and went to our neighbours. Friends quickly reported it to the police, and we ourselves reported to the station [about 3 km awayl later in the morning and made a statement. At about 6 the following evening, three policemen came to the house to take another statement from us. They hung around until after dark and we felt unsettled all over again. The two teachers asked for a copy of the report. Although they were told they could have one, they never were given one. As far as they ever knew, no action was taken to apprehend the culprits. Concerned for their security, the head teacher moved the school camel boma and two herdsmen nearer to their house, but with the thieves still at large, Helen and Sarah never again felt comfortable staying outside their house after dark.
29August97 On this day, the Feast of the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, Fr Angelo was attacked in the mission house by a knife-wielding beserker, the cook's husband, a former catechist. This William Wario (not the same as the seminarian mentioned above) was arrested and taken to court in Moyale where he was found guilty - but nevertheless was later released. The police guard at the mission that had been instituted in 1994 was discontinued in 1997. In due course, the mission dispensed with its own watchmen as well, since they did nothing but sleep the night through. Robbers thought the mission was, again, an easy target and early in 1999 they attacked it for the eighth time.
23 Februaiy99 At 10 at night, when returning to the imssion house after turning off the generator, Fr Angelo was once again held up. A voice demanded 'pesa, pesa' [money, money]. He shone his bright torch and saw two men, one with a gun. The mission's guard dog hurled himself at the gunman. After firing a wild shot, he and his accomplice fled. The sound of the shot brought five armed APs, led by Joseph Roba, one of the Christian congregation. They found the empty cartridge (and later some footprints). The following day Roba reported the incident to the Kenya police. No one from the police station came to investigate. On Friday 26
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February, Fr Angelo asked Roba to accompany him to the station where he talked to the Inspector. 'It is a disgrace to you, the Kenya Police, that none of you have come to see what had happened in the mission compound two days ago. That shot that was heard by all of Sololo, you did not hear. And up to today, the fourth day, still no one of you has come to the mission to see if someone had shot a hyena or another person. Would it be because we are Italians, foreigners, that we are of no importance to you?' I wanted to add, 'or is it because you are cowards?' (Just a day earlier, when a lorry was ambushed at Walda, 25 km from Sololo, the two policemen escorting it were the first to run away.) But I held my tongue. The Inspector listened in silence. I said that because I had shone the torch full on the gunman, I could identify him. The Inspector called another policeman who took down my statement, which I then signed. In the afternoon the phone rang. 'We have arrested four men. They are here at the Station. Can you come and see if you can identify the one you saw?' I went. Four men were sitting on a bench. 'That one,' I recognized without any doubt, pointing to the one sitting farthest away. The other three were released, the one I identified was put in the cell. His name? That which for three days had been on everyone's lips. The Corporal told me the man was a real delinquent, which was later repeated to me privately by many others, politicians, sub-chiefs, and several policemen. 59 But, as one of them, a school inspector, warned me, 'Father, they won't do anything to him, they'll let him go, because he has a rich brother and because he's a friend of the 'mayor' of Sololo'. And sure enough: on Sunday the 28th I heard that he was already out of jail! When Fr Angelo went to the Inspector the next day to ask why the man had been released, the Inspector assured him that the man was to report to the police station every day. But... Three priests (two Italians, one German) have already been murdered in northern Kenya, and the police have done virtually nothing. Since the Sololo Mission (despite its association with the adjacent Catholic Hospital that serves the people from far around) had already been attacked seven times and no
59 The same Nyuke was widely rumoured to be one of the men who attacked the two VSO teachers. He also was involved in a robbery at the Lutheran Church, where the pastor's daughter recognized him.
132 ROLES OF GOVERNMENT AND OF MEDIA action had ever been taken, Fr Angelo has employed an eminent Nairobi lawyer and has brought a case against Nyuke, claiming that as long as he is at large, his (the priest's) life is in danger. But, as Fr Angelo wrote to us in July 1999, Alter five and a half months, I have not yet been called to the court. I have gone many times to the Kenya Police Station in Sololo. Since February 23rd, the Inspector has gone away already twice for more than a month, so in the intenm one can do almost nothing. Sometimes, of course, the police may fail to apprehend culprits because they are the culprits. A Marsabit family yesterday petitioned Police Commissioner Philemon Abong'o to order the arrest of two police officers for alleged robbery. A businessman, Mulato Barche, claimed that two administration policemen robbed his family at their Nyayo Road residence, four months ago, and have not been arrested despite positive identification. (Standard 18/6/99) Of course it does not help when there is no magistrate. In September 1999, the Senior Resident Magistrate of Moyale District, Zablon Salano, was transferred down-country. By December he still had not been replaced. The press report was a classic understatement. The transfer of the only magistrate at the Moyale Law Courts has drupted operations at the station. (Standard 25111199) The same article quoted the police boss as admitting 'the police were having to release on bond suspects booked for petty crimes'. We suspect it was not coincidence that the same article went on to say that a Moyale trader had just been robbed of sh 2.2 million in goods and cash.
HIGHWAY INCIDENTS The inability, or unwillingness, of the police to take action has led to an escalation of banditry in general, notably highway robberies. In this section we include a few of the many incidents that have happened on the Isiolo- Marsabit stretch, for they affect Marsabit and Moyale as much as - perhaps even more than - those on the Marsabit-Moyale stretch.
4 March 93 The southbound convoy was attacked on the highway between Moyale and Sololo; a lorry driver and a young policeman were killed.
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17August95 A lorry was ambushed and one passenger, Ahmed Ibrahim, was seriously wounded. The bandits, according to the newspaper report robbed passengers of cash and property valued at sh 479,625. (Nation 11/9/95) Six young Borana were captured (Guyo Dido, Dabasso Molu, Galgalo Koto, Dadacha Galgalo, Marako Denge and Guyo Diba) and accused of robbery with violence. The case was promptly brought to court, the six pleaded guilty and on 3 September were all condemned to death by the Marsabit magistrate. He defended the death penalty by saying it was to serve as a deterrent. (Nation 11/9/95) As a deterrent it was not noticeably effective, for highway robberies continued unabated.
27Januaiy 96 Armed bandits ambushed a lorry passing Gof Choba, the huge crater 10 km north of Marsabit town. They terrorized passengers and stole cash and goods valued at over sh 100,000, but at least there were no casualties.
May .96 While Dida Born was transporiing animals to Nairobi, he was stopped tin the highway between Moyale and Marsabit by bandits and robbed of the livestock. He reported the incident to the Marsabit police but no action was taken.
27 October96 It is not only lorries that get held up. Omar Mohammed (25) and his sister Geinya were on their way home from Moyale town with their donkey when they were suddenly approached by bandits and ordered to stop. The bandits tied Omar's hands behind his back and forced Geinya to walk beside him. Minutes later, a bandit jumped in front of the two and shot Omar in the face, killing him. As the bandits turned their attention to the load on the donkey, Geinya managed to run away.
6November96 A nine-man gang stopped a bus on the Isiolo-Marsabit highway and robbed twenty passengers of their goods and the driver of his money. No one, however, was hurt.
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On the same day, on the same highway, another lorry was attacked by bandits, and in that attack one man was killed and a woman injured. (We have not been able to get the details.)
25Januaiy 97 A lorry owned by a prominent Marsabit Burji family was held up by four bandits at Gof Choba, 36 kilometres north of Marsabit. The driver, Kenyatta Said Chute, who was a family member, was forced to strip, then shot dead. The loader, Tuke Hirbo, was beaten, and the five passengers robbed. The police followed up the case to the extent of tracking the bandits in the direction of Dirib Gombo and finding a few stolen goods, but no one was arrested. It is said that Chute was murdered because he let it be kDown that he recognized one of the bandits, but it was also widely remarked that Chute was a Buiji, while the killers were heard speaking Borana.
September97 Another prominent Marsabit businessman and transporter, 'Aku' Mangia, gave us the following account. One of my lorries was ambushed near Serolevi, even though it was carrying askaris. The askaris soon ran out of ammunition, so the bandits ransacked my lorry. They even took documents, including my driver's ID card.
81,-nuaiy 98 As mentioned above, it is not only lorries that get held up. On 8 January 98, Abdulahi All, his 15-year old son Rashid and a Garreh friend, Abdulahi Mohammed were attacked on the Shura road and the two men were shot dead. The youngster told us the story. We were going to Abijan (near Wajir) to see our animals there. My father was riding his pony, and we had a pair of work oxen and 4 donkeys laden with goods, including new clothes as gifts and 4 boxes of veterinary medicines. We spent two nights at Dinb Gombo, at the house of the father of the MP, then left in the morning. When it got hot we rested, when it was cool, we set off again. It was then that we were attacked. The first bullets killed Abdulahi Mohammed. I ran and hid. My father got off his horse and grabbed his gun but the bandits surrounded him and shot him dead. I didn't recognize any of the eight
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men, but I heard them talking Borana as they looted my lather (who was carrying 10,000 shillings) and his friend (with 18,000 shillings) and the donkeys' loads. But they didn't take the animals, or my father's gun. He was a KPR [homeguard, so it was a government gun, and they probably didn't dare take it. The bandits continued down the Shura road and soon caught up another group which included Abdulahi Au's young partner, a Degodia named Iddo, who was going for his wedding. They shot Iddo dead and looted the baggage animals, Young Rashid reported to the APs at Dirib, and a government vehicle carried the bodies back to Marsabit. But nothing was done to try to trace the killers, even though one of Abdulahi Mi's older sons, Abdi, is in the Marsabit police force. Some people, under the impression that no goods were stolen - According to the district police boss, Mr Daniel Serem, the bandits only took the ammunition. (Nation 10/1/98) - told us that Abdulahi Mi was assassinated for having supported the newly elected MP, young Abdi Tarri Susura. Others say he was murdered by bandits simply for gain, which seems, given the son's description, more probable.
1 Mirch 98 Mu Mangia told us the following account, and even made a phone call to get the exact date for us. A lorry was stopped by armed bandits near Merille. As the bandits - I think they were Rendille or Samburu - were ransacking the lorry and passengers, some of the passengers ran into the bush. When the bandits finished their work and let the driver continue, two men were missing. Given the circumstances, the driver did not want to hang around. So he drove off. One of the missing guys, a Rendile, showed up here later but didn't want to say what had happened to the other man. That other man, a Borana, has never showed up. His name is Abdulkadir Wachile, he's' the uncle of a woman who works for me. The family went to the police and DO, but got no help. We've never heard anything, so we think he must have been killed or died in the bush.
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9Jwie 98 In early June, three young South Africans came through Marsabit, walking from Cape to Cairo to raise money to 'Eradicate Polio'. Continuing on their way, they pitched camp about 12 km before Bubisa. During the night they were attacked and one man had virtually all his possessions stolen. They returned to Marsabit and reported the matter to the police. According to them, the police did nothing to help them, and the DC actually became unpleasant. After ten days they managed, with considerable difficulty and expense, to replace the stolen items and continue their journey - with, as they told us, angry, unpleasant memories of Marsabit.
22September98 A small lorry making one of its regular trips between Moyale and Sololo, was ambushed on the highway on its way from Moyale, at the curve known as Funanyata, 30 km from Moyale. The driver and eight of the nine passengers were shot dead. As this was not a simple highway robbery but rather an instance of ethnically motivated killings, we have already described it under 'Ethnic Clashes' (Chapter 3). We will discuss the repercussions below, in the next section of this chapter.
22 Februazy 99 A lorry was ambushed at Walda (the press reported it as Bubisa, Standard 25/2/99) and the passengers robbed.
8May99 A Land Rover hit a hmdmine near Odha and one man was killed. As this incident was said to involve the Ethiopian government and/or the OLF, we have described it in Chapter 4.
12May99 A second landmine exploded in the same area. This incident has also been dealt with in Chapter 4.
2899 A Marsabit transporter, one of the prominent Barsium family, was shot while driving his lorry 4 km south of Isiolo. He was injured in the hand and collarbone, but managed to keep driving.
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The same night an Akamba bus was shot at, also on the southern, tarmac side of Isiolo. The driver's eye was injured but he, too, managed to keep on driving.
20 May99 Aku Mangia of Marsabit told us of yet another highway robbery in which his family was involved. Did you know that my brother Yunis, the one who had given you a lii from Turbi last month, was robbed on another trip very soon after, just 10 km from Turbi, at Laga Worabeesa. He was held up by about five people (he felt were locals, from Turbi). They robbed him completely, even his clothes and his shoes, even his medicines. As a parting shot, when they were leaving they shot out one of the Volvo's tyres. It was a new tyre, and they are very expensive. Yunis was really annoyed.
22July99 The above incident did not make the papers, but another incident that occurred in much the same area was reported. Heavily armed bandits yesterday attacked and injured two motorists and robbed passengers of money... the victims were ambushed at Yasare area when transporting camels to Nairobi. The driver, Mohammed Hilow, said they were attacked by three heavily armed bandits and severely beaten. Nine other passengers were robbed of more than sh 50,000. (Nation 23/7/99)
27August99 A little over a month later, five bandits attacked another lorry in the same area, right by Walda Bridge. One man was killed, a policeman and a girl were injured, and the usual money and personal effects were stolen.
7September99 • . . four armed robbers shot at two vehicles at Maili Tano area on the outskirts of Isiolo town and seriously wounded occupants of one. (Standard 9/9/99) It must be pointed out that not all the highway crimes are perpetrated by locals. According to a report in the press, Samuel Mwangi Gichiri, suspected to be an associate of 'the most wanted criminal', the late Gerald Wambugu Munyena, was in Nanyuki court to answer various charges. They included
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handling a stolen motor vehicle on 20 june at Dida Galgalo Ithe lava- rock desert between Marsabit and Moyalel ... land] on 13 August being found in possession of a Cesta pistol along the Moyale-Marsabit road. (People 8/9/99)
THE FUN ANYATA AND BAGALLA MASSACRES
A particularly disastrous result of the failure of the police to apprehend culprits is evident in the massacre at Funanyata in September 1998 and the massacre at Bagalla the following month. We have already given the details of these sorry incidents in the chapter on 'Ethnic Clashes'. Now we turn to what happened when the authorities failed to take action against the culprits.
Despite the fact that one person survived the Funanyata massacre and was able to describe what had happened, and despite repeated pleas by the relatives of the victims, nothing was done to apprehend the killers of the Gabra driver and his all-Borana passengers.
One month later, as we have seen, a large body of well-armed Borana swooped down and massacred Degodia from Wajir in what came to be known as the Bagalla massacre.
Akhough the press immediately put the blame for the Bagalla massacre on the OLF, all our informants up north were unanimous in saying that the massacre of Degodia by Borana was in direct retaliation for the highway massacre of Borana by Degodia a month earlier. This is borne out by the following. Wajir SDP chairman Abdi Birik alleged that high-ranking government officials and individuals from Eastern Province had in the past one in onth [ernphasis ours] been holding secret meetings ... where they allegedly hatched plans to eliminate members of the Somali (Degodia) clan. (Standard 3/11/98)
At the same time Students demonstrating in Nairobi waved placards and shouted, 'Stop using the OLF as a scapegoat.' (Standard 3/11/98)
While soon thereafter, there was a headline 'New twist in massacre saga' in which the NEP PC, Maurice Makhanu and his provincial Police Officer, Jeremiah Matagaro, were quoted as saying
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the raiders crossed the border from Eastern Province and massacred their victims in the same province. (Standard 11/11/98) Of course the Ethiopian government issued a statement saying these unfortunate deaths... have absolutely nothing to do with Ethiopia. (Standard 11/11/98) And nothing was done by the Kenyan government. By April people were getting exasperated. Civic leaders in Wajir yesterday urged the Government to make public the findings of the probe committee into Bagala massacre. . . . They said it was unfortunate that the government with all its machinery had failed to recover any animal eight months after the massacre. (Standard 10/4/99) Three weeks later, after reiterating that the Bagalla massacre was caused by a dispute between the Borana and Degodia over grazing, a Minister of State in the Office of the President, Marsden Madoka, told parliament that the Government will release the findings of the Bagalla Massacre Probe Committee in two weeks time. (Standard 30/4/99) The report was released six weeks later. The MP for Moyale, Gurrach Galgalo - whose brother had been one of the victims of the Funanyata massacre - responded strongly. The committee that compiled the Bagalla Massacre Report was compromised to release a bogus document ... Gurrach Galgalo said the report released last week largely blamed the Oromo Liberation Front for the insecurity in Moyale and the neighbouring areas 'yet feuding in the area date [s] many years back, before the two-year.old OLF was formed.' Dr Galgalo.. . told the Bagalla Massacre Report Committee to apologise to the public for wasting the government's money. (Nation 24/6/99) Had the police taken immediate, strong action after the Funanyata massacre. but of course they could not, since allegedly the military was involved. It may be for that same reason that Minister Madoka made the strange statement that no one will be arrested over the [Bagalla massacre] incident, which, as the reporter went on to point out, was a pronouncement that generated public suspicion. (Standard 26/6/99)
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Despite all the public suspicion, the police still seemed loath to take action. After the murder of Sora Qere in Marsabit town on 3 November, Dr Bonaya, the Foreign Minister and a fellow Gabra, flew up for the funeral and held a public security meeting on the 6th to try to deluse the tension that was gripping the town. The leaders told the government that if the killings were not thoroughly investigated, suspicion and animosity among the local communities would increase. (Nation 11/1 1/99) It did not seem that killings were being thoroughly investigated. The press reported that two people had been arrested, and when confirming the incident, Marsabit DCJoash Miyoma said the two are assisting police with investigation. But the area police boss denied the arrest of the two. (Nation 11/11/99)
Human rights abuses by security forces and the administration The right to liberty and security of the person are of paramount importance in recognizing the inherent dignity of the human person. In order to protect these fundamental rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Africa Charter on Human and People's Rights (ACHPR) prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention. Any arrest carried out by law enforcement officials that is not in confbrmity with the law is arbitrary. No one should be arrested without a good and lawful reason. Furthermore, when a person is arrested they have the right to be told, in a language they understand, of the reasons for their arrest. But as the KHRC 1996/97 team described, arbitrary arrest and detention is the method of choice for 'enforcing the law' in Marsabit and Moyale, and torture is all too common.
TORTURE Torture is prohibited by Section 74 of the Constitution of Kenya which states that No person shall be subject to torture or degrading punishment or other treatment. This sentiment is reiterated in Article 7 of the ICCPR and Article 5 of the ACHPR. Yet torture was found to be a common occurrence in Marsabit and Moyale. One elderly man who was afraid to talk to the 1996/97 KHRC team
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without a permit from the chief, and who only spoke upon the Commission's assurance of anonymity, described the situation as follows. Torture is very rampant here. We do not know our rights. We fear revealing our experiences because we know we will be victimized. We are surprised that the government allows the security forces to torture us with impunity because this district stood solidly behind the Kenya African National Union (KANTJ) in the last elections. The main perpetrators of torture are the Kenya police, the Kenya army, and the Administration Police. But even game rangers from the Kenya Wildlife Services have been involved in inflicting torture upon civilians. All victims interviewed by the 1996/97 KHRC team invariably told simiJar stories, and in 1999 we heard more of the same. People are arrested on flimsy charges, tortured, and detained for long periods of time under pathetic conditions. If during the detention they fall sick, they are often denied medical treatment until their condition becomes critical - and sometimes not even then. If charged in court, the victims, who were physically and psychologically maimed for life, were often then acquitted. We, in 1999, found considerable difference in treatment by the authorities in the different areas. In Sololo and North Horr, until the advent of operation OLF-Out in May-June 1999, people had been roughly handled, but we heard of few instances of serious mistreatment, certainly not torture. There the main complaint against the police was their ineffectiveness. (It seems one cannot have it both ways!) There had been a certain amount of police brutality in Ileret, but most of the mistreatment and torture seems to be in Marsabit, not only according to the 1997 report but also according to what we ourselves could ascertain. A good example is the story of the Galma family, Borana who were accused of being involved in the June 1992 massacre of Rendille at Kituruni (see Chapter 3). One brother, Jillo Galma, told it thus to the 1996/97 team. I was arrested on 7 July 1992 in connection with a raid on the Rendille. Several other people were arrested at the same time. The Marsabit police officers tied our hands and legs with ropes and then handcuffed us. They took us to the bushes in a nearby area where they beat us repeatedly with huge sticks on our ankles. The beating continued until the following morning. We were then transferred to Marsabit Police Station. There, the torture continued for about eight days. The
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interrogating officers roughly rubbed [sici our heads with their guns. That was very painful. They also beat us repeatedly with huge sticks in the hope that we would confess to possessing guns and masterminding the raid which occurred on 26 June 1992. I was then charged with robbery with violence at an arraignment. I denied the charges and was remanded on and off for nine months before I was acquitted. Jillo Galma's father was not spared, as the son told the team. Mter arresting me, the police visited my home and arrested my father. He was accused of masterminding the attack on the Rendille, keeping stolen livestock and being in possession of fflegal arms and ammunition. Neither arms nor livestock were found during a search of his property. They beat my father for hours that night, breaking both his legs in the process and rendering him unconscious. Jillo Galma's brother Koto Galma was also targeted. He is a prime example of a citizen who was subjected to arbitrary arrest and 'disappeared' at the hands of the police. On the day I was arrested, my brother, Koto Galma, was also arrested. He has not been seen ever since. Family members reported his disappearance to the police but no action was taken. We looked for him in every police station in the district without success. When we reported his disappearance to the Marsabit police, we were told that my brother was a 'runaway fugitive' and were strictly warned not to continue looking for him. Later my parents were chased away from the police station after being told that Koto was among twenty people sentenced to death. However, as far as the family knew, Koto never stood trial on any charges. Two other people were arrested in connection with the same attack on Rendille. Duba Guyo and Wario Guracha were arrested on 8 July 1992 in Marsabit on the suspicion that they were 'feeding bandits' who had earlier attacked the Rendille, and that previously they had 'masterminded a raid' on the Rendille, Duba Guyo described the ordeal. Eight officers led by the Officer Commanding the Police Division forced their way into my premises at approximately 2 a.m. One of the officers hit me hard on the head with the butt of his gun and said that I was under arrest. When I asked the reason for my arrest I was beaten further. The officers forced me to take them to Mr Guracha's residence. There they picked him up and drove us both to Marsabit Police Station.
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interrogating officers roughly rubbed [sic] our heads with their guns. That was very painful. They also beat us repeatedly with huge sticks in the hope that we would confess to possessing guns and masterminding the raid which occurred on 26 June 1992. I was then charged with robbery with violence at an arraignment. I denied the charges and was remanded on and off for nine months before I was acquitted.
Jill0 Galma's father was not spared, as the son told the team. After arresting me, the police visited my home and arrested my father. He was accused of masterminding the attack on the Rendille, keeping stolen livestock and being in possession of illegal arms and ammunition. Neither arms nor livestock were found during a search of his property. They beat my father for hours that night, breaking both his legs in the process and rendering him unconscious. Jillo Galma's brother Koto Galma was also targeted. He is a prime example of a citizen who was subjected to arbitrary arrest and 'disappcared' at the hands of the police. On the day I was arrested, my brother, Koto Galma, was also arrested. He has not been seen ever since. Family members reported his disappearance to the police but no action was taken. We looked for him in every police station in the district without success. When we reported his disappearance to the Marsabit police, we were told that my brother was a 'runaway fugitive' and were strictly warned not to continue looking for him. Later my parents were chased away from the police station after being told that Koto was among twenty people sentenced to death. However, as far as the family knew, Koto never stood trial on any charges. Two other people were arrested in connection with the same attack on Rendille. Duba Guyo and Wano Guracha were arrested on 8 July 1992 in Marsabit on the suspicion that they were 'feeding bandits' who had earlier attacked the Rendille, and that previously they had 'masterminded a raid' on the Rendille. Duba Guyo described the ordeal. Eight officers led by the Officer Commanding the Police Division forced their way into my premises at approximately 2 am. One of the officers hit me hard on the head with the butt of his gun and said that I was under arrest. When I asked the reason for my arrest I was beaten further. The officers forced me to take them to Mr Guracha's residence. rThere they picked him up and drove us both to Marsabit Police Station.
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On arrival at the police station they informed us of the charges upon which we were arrested. They then held us for five days at the station without food. They kept us handcuffed throughout our stay there and did not allow our relatives to visit us. They then transferred us to prison cells even before we went to court. The two men were remanded for two months before they were taken to court. There they were charged with robbery with violence, a capital oflence. Wario Guracha, who is a butcher, was also charged with 'slaughtering bulls for the bandits'. When Duba Guyo complained to the magistrate of torture, showing him the wounds inflictel by the police, the police charged him further with the crime of 'inciting the Boran against Rendilles.' The two men were remanded once again and appeared in court two months later. While in prison, Wario Guracha contracted such serious diarrhoea that he began passing blood. After 14 days of unconsciousness, he was taken to Marsabit Hospital where he was admitted for several weeks. At the hospital he was chained to his bed and not even allowed to use the bathroom. He said during the interview My relatives used to come to the hospital to clean up my shit. A verdict on the case was finally rendered one year later, in July 1993. Duba Guyo was sentenced to one and half years in prison while Wario Guracha was acquitted! Dida Galma (interviewed 19 September 1996) suffered similar mistreatment but at the hands of KWS rangers. On 3 February 1993, I was working on my shamba at Badassa, a village located about 10 km away from Marsabit. At approximately 1:00 p.m., seven game rangers arrived and started beating me while accusing me of being a poacher. The rangers destroyed my miraa trees, took my watch, a 120 foot water pipe, my safari boots, a torch and a panga. They did not record the coiifiscation of these items anywhere. The rangers then searched my house for guns but found none. When I asked for my property back, they beat me with sticks and stepped on me with their boots. They then arrested my son. After tying our hands and feet they took us to Marsabit Game Reserve Camp. On the following day, the same officers drove me back to my shamba where another search for guns was conducted. At this point, my hands
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and feet were still tied. One ranger slapped me vely hard when I said that I did not know anything about the guns they were searching for. They then tied me to their Land Rover and dragged me on my stomach for many kilumetres. I cried loudly all the way until they were forced to bundle me into the vehicle for the rest of the journey back to the camp. Later that evening three rangers blindfolded me and took me to the nearby Marsabit forest. There, they suspended me from a tree. With my hands and feet bound, they left me hanging upside down. Three hours later, they returned and beat me unconscious as I hung there helpless. I sustained multiple injunes. IThere are still visible scars on his head.! The rangers then untied me and took me back to the camp. When a man is accused of a felony, his family is often targeted and harassed, especially between the time an arrest warrant is issued and the actual apprehension of the suspect. After the decision to arrest a man has been made, the police visit the family home in search of him. If the man is not found, the family may be tortured, women included. Women are, of course, particularly susceptible to rape, a violent and dehumanizing crime. In Kenya it is punishable by imprisonment with hard labour for life. It is all the more frightening when committed by the very people who are supposed to protect women from such violations. The women whom the 1996/97 KHRC team interviewed 'all expressed the constant fear of being raped by law enforcement officers as well as by men from other tribes'. According to a KHRC monitor (interviewed 18 September 1996), rape by the police and members of the Kenya army is common. After bandit raids, police flood homes, beating and raping women in the hope of getting information on their husbands' and sons' whereabouts. As mentioned in Chapter 3, in 1994195 there was an upsurge of tension between Burji and Borana around Marsabit, particularly in Dirib Gombo. The young chief of Dirib Gombo, a Borana named Abdi Tarn Susura, together with local Borana and Burji elders, had succeeded in calming things down when suddenly in February 1995 higher authorities called in the army. The result was disastrous, as Abdi Tarri Susura (now MP) described it to us. The first we knew was that suddenly the army had come from Moyale (Odha) and were camping at the police station in Marsabit town. The next day they went down to Dirib Gombo and started beating and raping
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Borana, claiming they were looking for guns. One old man was beaten so badly he never recovered and died some months later. One of the women raped was Kabale Dadacha, whom we encouraged to tell her story to the onginal KHRC team. This was the horrilring story Kabale told when she was interviewed on 19 September 1996. The army suddenly arrived to look for guns. They stole sh 300 from me. They beat me saying I had hidden the guns they were looking for. They then raped me and my young girl at the same time. I was so humiliated. We were raped by about ten men. The officers then turned to my thirteen-year-old daughter, Kule Dadacha, and asked her where her father was. He had died several years earlier and she told them so. They beat her and said she was lying. They then took her to a bonfire and dipped her head in as they questioned her. Kule suffered from severe burns to the head and a permanently damaged kidney. Because of the high incidence of rape committed by the Kenya army and the local police, there has been a complete breakdown in the confidence that women place in law enforcement officials in Moyale and Marsabit. Rape is rarely reported not only because of the stigma attached to the crime but also because the local authorities are involved in its perpetration. Ileret, a police post and five-shop trading centre in the very northwest of Marsabit District, is the centre for the small number of Dassanetch in Kenya, and has been the scene of considerable harassment of civilians by the handful (fewer than ten) of police posted there. The local councillor, 'Ruba' (Amos Tachan), gave us a list of 23 people (including five women) who, in the period from 1982 to 1998, were arrested and beaten and subsequently died from the injuries they received at the hands of the police. He added, 'And there are many others who are injured and some of them are in hospital now.' (Unfortunately, he did not provide us with dates and details of injuries, so we cannot document individual cases.) The harassment was exacerbated after the Kokai massacre, when the police were seen as trying to 'cleanse' the area of Dassanetch, pushing them all across the border (just 20 km away) on the grounds that they were not Kenyans - not even those with Kenyan ID cards.
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The police are also seen as being in cahoots with the Somali traders, who have a stranglehold monopoly on trade in Ileret. According to Councillor Rub a, 'If you try to argue with them about prices or if anyone else tries to open a shop and undercut them, the Somalis will complain to the police'. However, there is good news, too. After the Kokai massacre, a contingent of General Service Unit, about 20 men, was posted to Ileret to bolster the small police force. The GSU have behaved considerably better, and although they initially tended to help themselves to fish and goats, they have now desisted and we heard them praised for the help they give, such as fetching sick people from fora, transporting goods, etc. Almost unbelievably, the most atrocious example of mistreatment of civilians by security forces took place virtually under our eyes, in the village of Balessa on 22 May 1999. We had just arrived in North Horr with the parish priest to begin research in that area. En route, at El Roba Gade, we heard that a large combined military and police convoy had passed, heading to Dukana. After saying Mass the next morning, Fr Antony got the news that the previous day this convoy had arrived at Balessa, rounded up all the men of the village and those from afar watering their livestock at the wells, about 70 all told, and, under the pretext of looking for illegal guns, had started beating people. Dozens were injured. Since the Catholic mission runs North Horr's only medical facility, a small Health Centre, Fr Antony immediately alerted the nurses, and by 3 in the afternoon we were on our way, together with the mission administrator, Salesa Galgalo, and the area Councillor, Galgallo Tuye, We arrived at Balessa at about 4 that afternoon and found many people had been treated at the little local dispensary, but some were still in very bad shape. 'While the nurses were treating people, we interviewed them and took photographs. One man had been beaten on the head so badly that he was completely deaf; several had had their testicles smashed with stones (the local method for castrating animals); many, many showed us the swollen areas and weals where they had been beaten on hands, legs, backs and torsos, and where they had had thorns shoved under their fingernails. The herdsmen at the wells had been stripped naked and made to lie on the hot sand under the hot sun; one herdsgirl was similarly mistreated. Many families had had livestock go astray, and some had fallen into the wells. Many individuals
147 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED had been looted of clothes and cash. The net resu1t Three people had been arrested 'for having illegal weapons' and taken away when the convoy moved on to El Adi. Everyone concurred that it had been the army personnel who had done the beating, while the police stood aside. We ourselves went on to El Adi and met the convoy just leaving. When Fr Antony asked the officer in charge why civilians had been so treated, the OC denied any beatings! We spent the night in El Adi where the army had just finished its operation against a group of OLF militia taking refuge in the laga (see the previous chapter). We then returned, via Balessa where we held more interviews, to North Horr. The following evening Clir Galgallo and Fr Antony were able to get a call through to the area MP, Dr Bonaya Godana - who is now also Kenya's Minister for Foreign Affairs. The call had immediate repercussions. The next day a helicopter arrived laden with Big Brass, the following day it (or another) flew up to Balessa, while the MOH Marsabit, DrJarna Wolde, drove over (a good five-hour drive) to treat those who had been beaten. On 27 May, Curs All Adaiio of Dukana and Tura Mamo of Turbi, who had been on the receiving end of the phone call to Dr Bonaya, made a press statement. The following day the Nation ran a lengthy article with large headlines. Torture: Army acts on claims After describing the Balessa beatings, the article continued Marsabit District Commissioner Joash Miyoma told the Nation on the telephone that he was not aware of any torture claims. 60 He said: 'We are only undertaking a military operation there to get rid of bandits.' He
60 His initial ignorance may have been legitimate. We heard from several sources in the hospital that although Dr jama first wrote a fairly, accurate description, listing the 38 people he had treated and their injuries, it was then 'suggested' to him that as a government official, he should tone down his report. So apparently he wrote a second one in which he said that the beatings had not been as serious as he had been led to believe. We have not been able to see the report to confirm this. In any case, the DC could not claim ignorance for long. He was one of the many people to whom we (Fr Antony and C. Salvadori) sent a copy of our own seven-page report.
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said the operation was conducted in a civil manner and denied that anyone had been injured or tortured during the operation.... Police sources in Marsabit declined to comment on the matter and instead referred the Press to the Department of Defence's Nairobi headquarters. The DoD statement said the team would 'gather details from those affected, those accused and the complainants'. Spokesman Nick Simani said the team would coordinate the campaign jointly with the local district security committee to exhaustively investigate the alleged claims. He said the DoD would deal with the issue according to the outcome of the investigations. And that is the last, to our knowledge, that has been heard! No one made any suggestions as to how the victims might be recompensed. No authorities made any move to stop such gratuitous violence. Within a couple of weeks, there were two more instances of vicious beatings by security forces as part of the by then notorious OLF-Out operation, one at Golole (near Sololo), the other at Forole. On 29 May the police brought to Sololo Hospital a man named Shuke Jattani who had been beaten literally senseless; all the staff described him as 'mad'. He was from Iddi Lola (Ethiopia) but the police had caught him near Golole. The hospital staff were appalled at his condition. 29-5 llnjuries tol brain, both eyes, kidney, liver. Beated. The patient is confused, dizzy. He says he was beated yesterday evening (kicked with heavy shoes). Complaining severe loss of seeing. The left eye is blind; there is bleeding.. . . Before to submit him to police investigation to assess the understand and will ability of the patient after the main [seriousl injury he had.... (Sololo Hospital records) The victim was brought in handcuffs, and the police wanted to take him away almost immediately. The hospital said if they admitted the man as a patient, he would stay until the hospital thought him fit to be discharged. Phone calls were made and Shuke was permitted to stay, but he was kept handcuffed to his bed the whole time, except for brief periods when he was allowed to sit on the verandah with other patients, under armed police guard. The hospital staff told us that when they dealt with him alone, Shuke was calm and cooperative, but as soon as he saw a uniformed policeman he would go mad, screaming, hiding, covering himself in his sheet.
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At the beginning he alternated between periods of semi-unconsciousness and periods of agitation, in which he seemed to be having nightmares and to see things which were terrorizing him. In the course of these crises (unless he was sedated pharmacologically), he shouted and put out his hands as if to protect himself. (Doctor's note, translated from the Italian) After a couple of weeks of careful treatment, his physical injuries began to heal but he was still in a highly disturbed state. 16-6 The patient fallen down three times today and hit the head once. Then the patient vomited again. 17-6 Night-mare crying. (Sololo Hospital records) Nevertheless, the police pressed for his discharge and on 19 June they took him away in handcuffs. It is thought he was taken to jail and/or hospital in Moyale, but no one we talked with knows what happened to him. As we have mentioned, on 20 June the army/police arrested Wako Koru Borara at Forole and similarly beat him 'nearly to death'. According to a reliable source in Sololo, the beating was so severe that the victim not only suffered multiple fractures but was also, allegedly, castrated. The latest incident occurred in early December 1999 near Moyale when security forces went to a grazing area and arrested several men. We could not get names or definite details, but everyone concurred the men were beaten. The men were taken to Moyale but then, since there was no magistrate in town, the OCPD took them (at least two) to Marsabit. We were told they were herdsmen working for a local councillor and for Guyo Karayu, who had just been arrested for publicly accusing DC Kipkebut of corruption (see below, 'Misrepresentation in Kenya's media') The beatings caused a loud outcry, with further accusations against the DC. Sometimes the security forces are suspected of being involved in outright murder. On 29 May 1999 two Gabra from Bubisa, Jirma Kobosha Bokaya and Dokata Waso (some say there was a third man), who were grazing their livestock in the Komu area (near Merti), were killed when they tried to retrieve their animals taken by raiders. The railers were Muralle Somalis but according to a recently published report
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The scene of the murder is less than 1 km from a mobile Kenya Army base. The residents suspect collusion between the army personnel and the bandits. (Hussein Sons Foundation report, October 1999) It is not only civilians that suffer at the hands of the police. Sometime it is the police themselves. On 18 November 1996, a Dassanetch policeman, John Bosco Yerar Losogo, who was (and is) serving in the police force in his home village of Ileret, was physically assaulted by his commanding officer for refusing to cooperate with the then ongoing police harassnient of his people. The OC,Julius Nzomo, dislocated Yerar's hip and then, to add insult to injury, jailed him. The priest from North Horr, Fr Richard, happened to visit his Ileret parish the next day, and he pleaded with the OC to release Yerar (a member of his congregation) for immediate medical treatment. The OC refused and it was not until two weeks later that he allowed Yerar to be taken to Marsabit hospital. He remained there five days before being flown to the Armed Forces Memorial Hospital in Nairobi by police plane. By then so much time had elapsed that the surgeon was unable to repair the damage. When we met Yerar in Ileret three years later he was walking on crutches, permanently crippled - and angry. He told us that Nzomo, to justify his behaviour, framed five charges, all fake, against him to the OCPD Marsabit. Yerar was told to resign or take early retirement; he refused. He wanted to sue Nzomo (now in Nairobi) but being in the police force he could not. In October 1997 he took his case to the KHRC and they promised to get him a lawyer, but to date nothing has happened.
THE USE OF VIOLENCE IN CURBING FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND THE RIGHT TO PEACEFUL ASSEMBLY Freedom of expression and assembly are fundamental in a democratic society and are protected by the Constitution of Kenya (Section 70b) and all major international human rights instruments. For a while this was overridden by the notorious Public Order Act, which stipulated that any public gathering or procession had to have a permit from the administration (chief, DO or DC). Peaceful assemblies were broken up violently, and people who exercised their right to express themselves were prosecuted.
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In February 1995 the army from Moyale suddenly appeared in Marsabit and went on the rampage in Dirib Gombo, beating and raping Borana (see above, under 'Torture'). All eyewitnesses we spoke with agree what happened next. The Borana were furious and the next day they staged a huge demonstration in Marsabit town, thousands of people. They gathered by the flag and said they would not move until the anny left Dirib Gombo. Their demonstration was completely peaceful but the police came and broke it up by shooting, killing dead a 15-year old girl, Gedi Bati, and injuring several other people. The demonstration made its point; the army left Dirib the next day. But the policeman who killed the girl, who wasn't even one of the demonstrators but just happened to be passing by on her way home after shopping, was never punished at all. According to the then MP for Moyale, Mohammed Malicha Galgalo (interviewed 17 October 1996), most arrests for 'illegal assemblies' are ordered by the provincial administration. To illustrate his point, he described an incident in which the DC summoned the police to break up a peaceful assembly. The incident occurred on 4 February 1996, when a local Islamic preacher, popularly known as 'Professor' Lenana Musa, was preaching in Moyale. News of this assembly reached the DC who then ordered Musa's arrest. Musa was apprehended and taken to the Moyale Police Station. Elders, including the imam of the Moyale mosque, went to the station to negotiate his release. Meanwhile, the officer commanding the station contacted the DC who instructed the police to break up the faithful who had gathered in the market place awaiting Musa's release. The police shot in the air recklessly and used te.argas to disperse the crowd. They also struck the people with rungus causing serious injuries. One victim of the beating, Gollo W'olde, had his right arm broken by a police officer. He was then arrested and charged two days later with 'attending an illegal assembly'. By the time he was interviewed by the KHRC team (21 September 1996), his case had still not been resolved. In 1997 the notorious Act was thrown out, and now the only requirement is to notify the police in advance. But the authorities in Moyale and Marsabit
152 ROLES OF GOVERNMENT AND OF MEDIA continue to ignore the reasserted right of the people to engage in public gatherings. Sololo has a particularly bad record.
On 26 October 1998 in Sololo, a group of people went to the office of the DO, Lukinyi, to formally complain that he and Chief Galma had been selling relief maize (see Chapter 2) and misappropriating water board funds. Among the leaders of the complainants was Assistant Chief Suleman, a man in his SOs. The DO, a much younger man, slapped him across the face. Suleman wisely walked out, and then travelled to Moyale to report the incident to the DC there. The authorities did nothing. And so two months later, on 24 December, the citizens of Sololo organized a peaceful demonstration to complain about the stolen relief maize. As they, about 1000 strong, were heading for the DO's office, they were dispersed by armed police and APs. They were told they needed a permit from the police, with three days advance notice. The Inspector insisted one man alone should sign for the permit; the leaders said it was a group demonstration and that everyone would sign. As they were arguing, the 'Duragora', a gang of young hoodlums in the pay of Chief Galma, threatened them - in the presence of the Inspector, who did nothing. Since they could not get the permit, the demonstrators printed a circular, stating their agenda, and gave copies to all the relevant authorities. They then held their demonstration, on the morning of 27 December. When they got to the DO's office, the DO, Lukinyi, pulled out a pistol and threatened to shoot them. Fortunately (Lukinyi had a reputation for being on drugs, some say bhang, others opium) someone was able to grab the gun. The police and AN dispersed the demonstrators. When a third attack on their village (10 March 1999) caused the people of Waye Goda, and many from neighbouring Mado Adi, to flee en masse to Sololo, 11 km distant, they found themselves refugees in their own country, without food or shelter (see Chapter 4). At least 500 people took refuge in the CPK compound in Sololo 'town'. When the pastor/manager went to the OCS on 14 March to ask for police protection for the refugees, he was told, 'Let your Iclericall collar be your protection.' When the District Security Commission came to Sololo to investigate the situation on 15 March, to find out why the refugees were refusing to return home, the refugees had elected one man as their spokesman, Sara Gindicha Katelo of Waye Goda. He said, 'There is big fear, so people
153 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED won't return until given enough security.' A few days later when the DC Moyale came, Sara Gindicha said the same thing. He was taken to Moyaie by CID Land Rover and put in custody for investigation. After two days they released him, but on bond. Then the Minister for the Office of the President helicoptered in, together with the Moyale Commissioner of Police, the acting PC and other officials, and held another meeting. The refugees selected another man as spokesman, Dima Charfana of Mado Adi. In the presence of the Minister and the other VIPs, he said he could not express the problems because he would be arrested like his predecessor.
THE ROLE OF THE HOMEGUARI)S (KENYA POLICE RESERVISTS) AND KENYA WILDLIFE SERVICE PERSONNEL As mentioned earlier, the homeguards (or police reservists, as they are now being called) are unpaid, usually un-uniformed, community vigilantes who are armed by the government to enable them to protect their homes and their grazing livestock. Being members of the community they are protecting, they often do an excellent job, as at Waye Goda in March 1999. But unfortunately the homeguards, like the police and army, are also responsible for rustling and killing, as well as much of the poaching. As a result, they have at various times and in various areas been disarmed. When the Kokai raid took place Led by Cllr Toa Muma [Turn Mamo] of Turbi Location of Marsabit, the elders questioned the Government's move to disarm homeguards, whicii they said had left the [Gabra] community open to banditry. (Nation 27/3/97) But generally homeguards have remained armed or been rearmed. In a peace meeting between Bomna and Renclille held in Dirib Gombo in June 1999 The DO said most guns used in committing crime in the district were Government guns issued to home guards to improve security in the area. (Standard 23/6/99) The argument goes back and forth, all over the pastoralist areas. A month later there were (small) headlines
154 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED won't return until given enough security.' A few days later when the DC Moyale came, Sara Gindicha said the same thing. He was taken to Moyale by CID Land Rover and put in custody for investigation. After two days they released him, but on bond. Then the Minister for the Office of the President helicoptered in, together with the Moyale Commissioner of Police, the acting PC and other officials, and held another meeting. The refugees selected another man as spokesman, Dima Charfana of Mado Adi. In the presence of the Minister and the other VJPs, he said he could not express the problems because he would be arrested like his predecessor.
THE ROLE OF THE HOMEGUARDS (KENYA POLICE RESERVISTS) AND KENYA WILDLIFE SERVICE PERSONNEL As mentioned earlier, the homeguards (or police reservists, as they are now being called) are unpaid, usually un-uniformed, community vigilantes who are armed by the government to enable them to protect their homes and their grazing livestock. Being members of the community they are protecting, they often do an excellent job, as at Waye Goda in March 1999. But unfortunately the homeguards, like the police and army, are also responsible for rustling and killing, as well as much of the poaching. As a result, they have at various times and in various areas been disarmed. When the Kokai raid took place Led by Cllr Toa Mama [Tura Mamol of Turbi Location of Marsabit, the elders questioned the Government's move to disarm homeguards, whicu they said had left the [Gabral community open to banditry. (Nation 27/3/97) But generally homeguards have remained armed or been rearmed. In a peace meeting between Borana and Rendille held in Dirib Combo in June 1999 The DO said most guns used in committing ciime in the district were Government guns issued to home guards to improve security in the area. (Standard 23/6/99) The argumentgoes back and forth, all over the pastoralist areas. A month later there were (small) headlines
154 ROLES OF GOVERNMENT AND OF MEDIA
Stop arming homeguards and reservists, leaders urge govt The government should stop issuing firearms to home guards and police reservists in the North Rift if it hopes to stamp out cattle rustling in the area, local leaders said yesterday. (Nation 25/7/99)
Just one week later the press reported Border police get more guns Kenya police reservists in Todenyang area near the border with Ethiopia have been issued with 10 'more guns and 600 rounds of ammunition in an effort to intensily security. The weapons were presented to the officers last Friday by Turkana DC David Andany. He said the guns should be properly used to only defend people.
Personnel of the Kenya Wildlife Service are also issued with guns. Many do admirable work, but as with the homeguards, the guns are also subject to misuse.
For instance, in early September (1999), we received a report (by telephone) from one of the priests in North Horr, saying that Around 1 September, a young Gabra herdsman from North Hon was shot dead by Sibioi Park askaris [KWS personnelj while grazing his animals outside the park.
And so the bloodshed continues, with government-issued guns. 6'
POACHING BY SECURITY PERSONNEL AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS
During the past decades, the larger wild animals of the north have been poached almost to extinction, despite the complete ban on hunting made in the 1970s. We do not want to go into the problem of poaching in detail, bufwe do need to mention it, for it is the police, APs, homeguards and army who are commonly alleged to be responsible for most of it. With reason; they are the people with (legal) guns. They do not even try to hide it, as we have seen for ourselves.
The road from North Hon to Ileret goes through Sibiloi National Park. As we drove through, we were delighted to see a small herd of oryx, alive and
61 Finally, as this report was going to press, Marsabit authorities made a move to stop it. DCJoash Miyoma directed that all police reservists deposit their guns at the DC's office or the police station when in town. (Nation 20/1/00) Why the sudden actionP A down-country AP had just been shot dead in the town.
155 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED well. When a lorry canying famine relief food and an escort of armed police arrived in the village a few days later, a very dead oryx had been added to the maize as famine relief. We 'innocently' commented on this to the owner/driver; he replied, 'they always make us stop so they can shoot something'. The missions generally encourage such poaching, for the Italians seem to have a fondness for the flesh of wild animals. Yet not all. A couple from the Sololo Catholic Hospital, doctor and nurse, related the following story to us. They were taking a day off to go to Ambalo and had a police escort with them. When they saw a giraffe out on the plains, they stopped to admire it. The escort got out and shot it! Dr Luca and Claudia were so furious they aborted the safari and drove straight back to Sololo. Sometimes the armed security forces are encouraged by government officials. One day we were travelling up to Marsabit with a Land Rover of the Marsabit. Posts & Telecommunications that had been in Turbi. It, too, had its armed escort aboard. Shortly after we passed the ancient, weatherbeaten sign that says 'Game Reserve. No hunting or shooting', we saw several Grant's gazelle in the distance. The official, an excessively portly individual who in no way was in need of free food, told the driver to stop and the escort to get out and shoot them. (They sensibly declined, not because of our presence but because the gazelle were too far away.) Yet the Waata, for whom hunting was the basis of their whole way of life, are arrested as poachers if caught hunting, and so are Borana and Gabra for whom the killing of certain trophy animals was essential to their traditional self-esteem.
Misrepresentation m Kenya media The misreporting of events in Moyale and Marsabit Districts is often disgraceful. The newspapers rarely get even the names of places correct (when all they need do is refer to the Survey of Kenya map), often not the names of people, let alone the facts. On the other hand, the fault is not entirely theirs since they are frequently fed, both intentionally and unintentionally, errors, exaggerations, half-truths and downright lies. The north of Kenya may be far too and for ordinary crops but it is exceedingly fertile ground for grapevines!
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We ourselves have come up against this in compiling this revised report. We have found that if there has been a raid, for instance, the victims automatically inflate their losses, often tenfold, while the attackers similarly belittle (at least for outside consumption) their successes! Often the truth is intentionally twisted, particularly when army or police are involved, in some cases (such as the Funanyata massacre) to the extent of a real cover-up. To begin vith, place names are often misplaced. Often the Standard has items about Marsabit or Moyale, both in Eastern Province, in its North Eastern/NEP column, and the Nation has been known to locate them there too.62 Even more frequently, too frequently to note, places are misspelled. These errors are inexcusable; all one has to do is look on the Survey of Kenya map to see where places are and how they are officially spelled. 63 They indicate not only unfamiliarity with the areas but also disinterest, if not downright contempt. Names of people are also frequently misspelled. In its item about a 'Moyale man jailed for 13 years', the Standard (913199) spelled the man's name as Ngnyo as if it were a Bantu tiame. It should have been Guyo, a common Borana and Gabra name. Similarly, a chief named Diba got Bantu-ized to Ndliba (3/3/99), while the village of Dambala Fachana was Bantu-ized to Ndambala. Such misspellings reach ludicrous proportions. The newspapers cannot even get the name of Kenya's Foreign Minister right - as the Nation's Watchman' noted. And still on matters media, Sam Akhwale points out the following variations on the name of our Foreign Minister, all of which have appeared at some time or another: Boyana Godana, Boyana Gonada, Bonaya Gonada, Bonada Goyana, Bonana Godaya, Boyada Gonana, Bodaye Gonaria, Bodana Gonaya, Bodana Goyana, Bonada Gonaya, Bonaiia Goyada. Remember colleagues everywhere, it's Bonaya Godana. (Nation 26/7/99).
62 Even KHRC itself has to admit to making similar mistakes. In the 1999 Quarterly Human RightsReport, the author describes a case of security officers killing two people at Garbatulla in Isiolo District. A photograph caption, however, puts the incident in Marsabit. 63 In summarizing the 'Human Rights Report Isiolo 1999', the Feature's writer thrice referred to the places and incidents as being in Marsabit District - even though the report was clearly subtitled 'The case of double banditry in the Waso region' (Nation 10/11/99).
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Even acronyms get muddled. We have seen the Oromo Liberation Front abbreviated not only as OLM in People, but - in a headline - as OLS in the Standard (5/6/99). (And in both cases the name was written out in full correctly in the text.) Such misspellings are risible. Factual errors are more serious. Our collection of clippings show how common such misreporting is. (We will leave out comments on the accuracy of reporting by The People Daily, as we have already commented on that in a couple of footnotes. Here we will just give some examples from Kenya's main daily papers. Individuals and groups get incorrectly identified. In a conspicuous article about Daudi Dabasso Wabera, one of the first African DCs in the whole country, who was assassinated while on the job in June 1963, it was implied that he was a Borana (Nation 19/11/99). He was a Gabra, of the Gaara section. But one can understand the journalist's confusion because in an article headlined Kenins caught in Oromo cross-lire, Gathika Weru wrote The Oromo, the Boran and Gabbra of Kenya are one and the same people. (Standard.5/4/99) It is not particularly important that the writer did not know that the preferred spelling of the second group is now Gabra. What is important is his ignorance about the relationship of the two groups. Although the Gabra speak the same language as the Borana, they are otherwise very different, and are pointedly staying out, or trying to stay out, of the Oromo fracas. And to add to the ethnic confusion, in a recent news item about tribal clashes, the Borana were described together with the Degodia as 'two ethnic groups of the Somali community' (Standard 14/2/00) - which could but make matters worse! 64 Incidents tend to be either ignored or exaggerated. Appalling massacres of dozens seem to automatically be raised to hundreds, as shown by the letter by Dr T.A. Ibsa of Moyale to the Standard(14/5/97) about the recent raid at Kokai... where hundreds of people died.
64 add insult to injury, when one newspaper illustrated its front page map showing the alleged 'Path taken by Oromo raiders' when Borana massacred Degodia Somalis, they used a picture of a Maasai warrior! (Nation 30/10/98)
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The number of people killed at Kokai (March 1998) was, precisely, 41. Another 21 people were killed two days later in the follow-.up operatin at Lokwaria. Sixty-two is not even one hundred! Reports of casualties in the Bagalla massacre (September 1999) were equally erratic. A front-page article . which the Standard (31/10/99) blazoned Outnge over WajIrkiliinbegan with 139 people dead and 17,500 animals stolen. A few paragraphs further on, in the vely same article, it became nearly 200 people have been killed and tens of thousands of livestock stolen. By 3 November, the death toll still stood at 142 while the number of animals stolen was reduced to 1,785 cattle and 2,075 camels. By June, the number of human casualties had been educed to 124 dead but the number of animals had gone up to 10,000 cattle stolen. (Standard 26/6/99, Nation 27/6/99.) But the inflated figure of '200 people dead' still stuck in people's minds, to appear, for instance, months later in the Nation of 2/7/99. In reporting the incident of 16 January 1999 in which, allegedly, four innocent villagers were injured at Dambala Fachana, the Nation ran a front-page banner headline: Border clash leaves 18 dead, and went on to describe it as a clash between Ethiopian troops and Oromo Liberation Front militiamen at the Kenyan frontier town of Moyale. (Nation 18/1/99) The clash took place inside Ethiopia, when OLF fighters attacked the military camp at Tuka, 12 km from Dambala Fachana. Dambala Fachana is 60 km from Moyale. And no 'innocent villagers' wece killed! In a later 'Special Report' DF was described as a 'sun-baked village' whereas it is remarkably well shaded by large trees. The report went on to describe the previous month's battle, 'Men in jungle gear stormed in, shooting at everyone and everything in sight.' Then, when mentioning one of the two wounded, Golicha Guyo Abudo, they gave his last name as Habada and neglected to say he was a homeguard. (Nation 14/2/99)
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In the 13 March report on the hattie of Waye Goda, the Sindard headlined it MoyaJe attackers were Ethiopiins, say police. The reporters began it by saying The Moyale attack, which left more than three people dead and two injured They then gave the names of precisely three people, all Ethiopians, killed, and one injured. 'The source also disclosed that the injured security personnel Nadó Ambo, was a member of the Kenya army and is hospitalised at Marsabit District Hospital'. Nadow Ambu was the Ethiopian wounded and he was being treated at Sololo District Hospital. The reporters went on to explain that the attack took place not at Moyale but at 'Wayeigoda Manyatta near Sololo Police Station.' Waye Goda is not a manyatta but a village of 136 permanent households. And it is 11 km from the Sololo Police Station.
On 16 March the Standard ran a large headline Moyale tense as families flee fearing another raid. It began More than 4,500 people have fled their villages and camped in a church compound in Sololo, near Moyale town. . . . Three Kenyan soldiers were killed and sevenilothers injured recently in an attack.. Kenyan families have deserted their manyattas in Waiye-Goda, Madoadi and Dainbalafachana. . . Ethiopianparents have removed their children from Madoadi and'Anona primary schools. (emphasis ours) • The number of people in the church compound was 500-700. All the inhabitants of Waye Goda (136 households) and Mado Adi (159 households) together do not come to more than about 1,500. • Many were staying with friends and relatives in Sololo. • Sololo is 82 km from Moyale town. • The three soldiers killed were all Ethiopian. • Only two people were injured, • People are not living in manyattas (even if one accepts the common misuse of that term); Waye Goda, Mado Adi and DF are all substantial villages of settled farmers. • And anyway, there were no refugees from DF after the Waye Goda attack. Som families had fled DF after the January ruckus, but by March they had all returned home. • There are no, or virtually no, Ethiopian children in those schools.
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Such misreporting leads to further misreporting. For instance, in his jingoistic 'Commentary' in the Nation of 21 March, Mutuma Mathiu inflated the number of refugees to 5000. Even more serious is the apparent black-out on news. To our knowledge, the press has never made any mention of the possible connection between the vicious Funariyata massacre of September 1998 and the massive Bagalla massacre the following month. Instead, the latter is still being described, as we have noted, as a wanton attack on innocent Kenyans by Ethiopian rebels! No mention was made of the two landmines that killed one person and injured a dozen more near Moyale in April 1999 until two and a half weeks after the second one exploded. And the Kenya army's operation against the OLF in Kenya that started on 22 May (and clearly had been planned long in advance) was given no coverage until a small item headlined Oromo men shot dead appeared in the Nation of 9 June 1999. (It had only been hinted at by the DC in his 1 June Madaraka Day speech.) Since the landmines and the subsequent military operation were by far the hottest topic in the north (we were in the area at the time), there is no possibility that the newspapers had not received reports. The only explanation is that the government had put a freeze on the news until the operation was virtually over. And then the news was distorted. In one press report headlined North Eastern Security Alarm it was written Land mines have been responsible for the deaths of close to a dozen Kenyans in as many weeks. (Kenya C'onfidential27 May-S June 99) As we have recorded, the landmiiies exploded near Odha which is in Eastern, not North Eastern, Province; it was one death in two explosions over a period of four days. (The second fatality did not succumb to his injuries until several months after the above was written.) Strangely, further down in the same article, the correct figures were given. The report went on to say No civilian vehicles have left the town and there is fear of starvation due to low stocks of food. It was only one day that the security forces prevented the regular daily convoy from leaving.
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Of course journalists, particularly those who live in the area, have good reason for being economical with the truth. The Marsabit-based reporter jirmo Baggajja who publicized the appalling state of Marsabit Hospital (see Chapter 2) was sued by the doctor for defamation of character to the tune, we heard, of sh 120,000. The judge upheld the doctor's suit and Jirmo is still (end of 1999) mouldering in the Marsabit jail. (Which explains why his by-line has disappeared from the Standard) In November 1999 in Moyale, Guyo Karayu, ex-chief of Butiye (and formerly a teacher) was arrested after talking with an anti-corruption team, pointing his finger directly at the DC Kipkebut. Townspeople gathered to protest his arrest, but the authorities ensured it was a small demonstration. Nevertheless, after five days he was released. We found no mention of the incident in the Kenyan press at the time. Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares the right of every human being to seek, receive and impart information. Clearly this right, along with so many others, is being abused by the Kenya government.
162 6 Glimmers of light
In this rather grim state of affairs, there have been glimmers of light. Occasionally there are efforts by the authorities to protect citizens by enforcing law and order. Recently there have been promises by the security forces to stop the use of torture. And, throughout, there are ongoing attempts at reconciliation by warring ethnic groups.
Attempts to enforce law and order The government authorities and policehave their side of the story, of course. In March 1997, the Kenya Pastoralist Forum held a seminar on security. The Marsabit County Council chairman, Galgalo Tuye, pointed out that police stations in the area may be as much as 300 kilometres away and such stations only have a maximum of five police officers. In case of an incident, three officers are dispatched, leaving only two at the station. 'How can three policemen fight 500 heavily armed rustlersP' he asks. (Nation 12/3/97)65 As a result, everyone needs to cooperate. In Marsabit on 1 April 1999, shortly after the murder of the Buiji cattle dealer (see Chapter 3) and the subsequent heightening of ethnic tension, DC Lucas Kosilbet held a baraza in Marsabit town which was attended by elders and local leaders from the Borana, Buiji, Rendille and Gabra communities. He called for conceited efforts by the police, provincial administration, and local residents in the war against cattle rustling and other criminal activities [andi asked leaders of the local community to work closely with the administration to root out criminals. He said chiefs, elders and local leaders should be able to identify cattle rustlers and monitor their movements as they were local residents. (Standard 214199) The baraza seemed to have an impact. On 28. April a Borana named Dansa Adan Thururu was arrested for the 18 April murder of the Gabra Miigo schoolboy Adan All in Marsabit town and sentenced to life imprisonment.
65 He was almost prophetic. The Kokai massacre occurred ten days later.
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Then on 25 April, two young men described to us as 'Ethiopian Oromo living wild in the bush' near Kubi.Qailo were arrested, charged with complicity in murders in the Songa area, and also for being in the country illegally; each was sentenced to ten years in jail. (One was 23 years old and had been in the area for about a year, the other was only 18 and had been around just five months.) The two young men said in their defeflse that they had come to the area 'just for poaching' giraffe and elephant, along with companions who had already returned to Ethiopia, but it was bruited that they were members of the OLF, hence apparently the extremely stiff sentence. Shortly thereafter Kosilbet Was transferred and while 'operation OLF-Out' went ahead full steam in other parts of the district under his successor (Chapter 4). But when the authorities do act, it is not always effective. When news of the March 1997 raid at Kokai (Chapter 3) reached 'the outside world', helicopters were quickly dispatched. When four Army helicopters landed at the Marsabit airstrip, they were imable to take off for the scene of the massacre owing to 'logistical problems'. Sources within the DC's office said the party was waiting for the go-ahead from the Office of the President. The helicopters finally left for IllercL at 3 pm yesterday [the day after the attack]. (Nation 25/3/97) And then it was misinformation given from one of the helicopters on aerial patrol on Tuesday morning that led the ground troops to believe the raided animals had been abandoned - and thus led to their own deaths. As Eikalo recorded, Military sources hold that in terms of timeliness, the 'intervention was an absolute flop'. (Eikalo 1998: 46) Timeliness seems the least of the errors made! The security forces made such a bad showing that the Director of Operations at Police Headquarters, G.M. Mwathe had to say the raiders numbered more than 2,000 and not 200 as reported earlier. (Natiui., 29/3/97) (Th: lower figure is much closer to our Dassanetch informants' estimate of 300.)
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The Marsabit District Security Committee spent most of the day after the attack in a meting, which caused the Marsabit leaders to storm the DC's office demanding immediate action. As the press reported The Marsabit District Commissioner's office is tight-lipped over the raid since it started... . Yesterday, 35 elders from Marsabit ... accused the DC, Mr Muli Malombe, of showing no interest in the Sunday attack, (Nation 27/3/9 7) Since the. Dassanetch are a trans-border community, with the great majority living in Ethiopia, it was claimed that the attackers had come from Ethiopia. There were immediate calls for the government to lodge an official protest to Ethiopia over the attack. However, the Minister of State Jackson Kalweo, who had promised to issuç a government statement refused to speak to the press. And a week after the initial raid, a columnist could say As I write this, however, there has not been a single word from the Government about the insecurity in Marsabit. (Nation 30/3/97) Other times, the reaction of the authorities seems totally out of proportion,, as in the following case that was heard in a Moyale court on 8 March 1999. Guyo Wako Galgalo, 31, was charged with having been found with a rifle, 20 rounds of ammunition and a hand grenade the previous 21 October in Arnbãlo sob-location (Dambala Fachana). In mitigation, the accused said he had bought the firearm to. protect his livestock from cattle rustling which had hit the area. The prosecution was led by Inspector Abdi Salat who in his submission said banditry incidents were alarming in the district and called for a deterrent sentence on the accused. (Staiidard 9/3/99) The man was sentenced by the Senior Resident Magistrate, Zablon Salano, to thirteen years in jail! Similarly, when the three men arrested at Balessa on 22 May 1999 for having illegal weapons (see below) were tried in a Marsabit court the next month, the two with guns were each sentenced to ten years in jail, while the one with only bullets got a mere seven years. $trong action by government authorities is not passing unnoticed, as we see from the letter Halkano S Dymos of Meru wrote to the press. I wish to congratulate the Minister of State in the Office of the President, Marsden Madoka, for his effort to ensure insecurity in Moyale District is
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curbed, We, the residents, appreciate his good work and support in bringing order particularly in Therame, Moyale District. By this token, we encourage the local District Commissioner to deal with culprits making life difficult for area residents. We are now confident, encouraged by the fact that the government appreciates our existence. For a long time, we have been complaining about insecurity without much action on the part of the government. (Stwdard 14/7/99)
Promises to eliminate police brutality Throughout Kenya, the police have been accused of serious misconduct, specifically their tendency to shoot to kill, and their predilection for torture. By the end of 1998, the complaints had become so vociferous that a promise was made to improve the behaviour of the police force. Under banner headlines LavJess police face crackdown, the Minister of State in the Office of the President, Marsden Madoka, was quoted as saying 'The government does not condone the evils that have been perpetrated by a few police officers and those will be removed from the force.' He said Kenyans looked forward to a new police force 'friendly and truly civil in its actions.' (Nation 19/12/98) Although on 18 December 1998 the police chief, Duncan Wachira, was ordered 'to sack the criminals in his force', no one noticed many heads rolling. It is noteworthy, however, that the following May, when the men of Balessa were beaten en masse in a combined army/police operation (see above), our informants concurred that beatings were inflicted by army personnel, not by the police. On 1 July 1999, a symposium on the UN Convention Against Torture was held in Nairobi. Kenya's attorney-general was one of the speakers. Attorney-General Amos Wako also said he was consulting with the commissioner of police on the need to have independent investigations into allegations of abuse and misuse of power by police against the public... . The AG disclosed that in the past year, about 60 police officers have been charged with murder and assault or have been involved in inquests into the causes of death resulting from police action. • . . He said the government, whose responsibility was to promote and protect human rights, held the deep view that torture was an 'abhorrent
166 GLIMMERS OF LIGHT
and obnoxious' practice which violates the rights of the individual in a 'very fundamental way'. (Nation 2/7/99) Just one month later there was a particularly nasty incident of police brutality in Ngobit (near Nanyuki) which raised such a furor that the office of the Commissioner of Police, Philemon Abong'o, issued the following public statement to the Standard's Sunday 'Face the Facts' page. The Commissioner of Police is committed to ensuring that torture of suspects by Police is a thing of the past. . . . It is our hope that other officers who may have similar tendencies will refrain from using violence on suspects. (Standard 1/8/99) But less than a fortnight later Police in Marsabit are looking for an Administration police officer who allegedly shot and seriously injured a herdsman Eat Guda areal on Tuesday. Police identified the victim as Retuma Lolomongoi, who was shot on Isici both legs and admitted to Marsabit District Hospital in critical condition. (Standard 12/8/99) However in December 1999 an encouraging postscript to the brutality we witnessed at Balessa appeared in the press. The Attorney-General has been asked to institute an impartial investigation into reports of torture by the security personnel. Amnesty International called for investigations into alleged torture by the militaiy and police of 70 unarmed herdsmen in Marsabit District on May 23. (Nation 10/12/99)
Efforts towards reconciliation Efforts at reconciliation have been going on for many years. In 1972, for instance, a new boarding primary school was opened in Marsabit with the explicit intention of bringing together children from the different ethnic groups in the area. The school was named 'SKM', standing for Saku-Kargi- 66 Maikona, for the three main ethnic areas. As we have noted, the spate of Gabra-Rendille raiding in the Kargi area in the early '90s eventually distressed the people themselves so much that rçconciliation meetings were held, in 1993 and again in 1994. This was in
66 . Saku is the ongmal local name for Marsabit Mountain.
167 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
good part the work of their two MPs, Dr Bonaya Godana and Robert Kochalle.
This, with the addition of the Burji, led to the informal alliance known as REGABU (Rendille-Gabra-Buiji). Although criticized as being an anti- Borana alliance, at least it brought three groups together.
On 22 June 1999, following renewed conflict between the Borana and the Rendille in the Marsabit area which had already cost two lives, a peace meeting, presided over by a senior DO and attended by chiefs, councillors and elders from the two groups, was held at Dirib Gombo. Old grievances were brought up, notably the eviction of 75 families from J.eyai during the 1995 tribal clashes.
Every eight years the Borana hold a Gumi Gayo, a pan-l3orana conference (guini). Although held in Gayo (southern Ethiopia), its rulings are binding on all Borana, including thOse resident in Kenya. The 1988 Gumi Gayo passed a number of Supplementary, Laws, Item 8 dealing with 'Relationships of the Boran with other communities'. It was decided to regard the Gabbra as brothers.. . . Let all Boran give respect and provide tLssistance when they perform their ritual ceremony. Like the Gabbra, the Konso too.are Boran and should be honoured. There should be no aggression against them. The Ejji (Somalis) are our brothers.. . . They should be provided water as the first priority at all wells for their livestock.. . .. (None of these groups are Borana by origin. To declare Xhem 'brothers' has to be regarded as a political decision, not as a historical fmding.)
Item 9 dealt specifically with 'Murder'. The killing of both humans and wildlife has been banned. The Gumi Gayo has from henceforth totally condemned killing of any human being, except in exceptional circumstances as required by the traditional 'buta' war, for which we are still negotiating for alternative solution in this same assembly. Henceforth no Boran shall kill the Guji, Konso, Gabbra, ljji, Burji or any other tribe.
In a footnote to a previous mention of the Ejji, Shongolo points out Ejji refers especially to northern Somali like Isaaq and Darod, who are represented as traders throughout East and North-East Africa. Cane, Ajuran and other Oromo-ized groups are not included in this category.
168 GLIMMERS OF LIGHT
It would seem that the Degodia are not included in this category either. Similarly, when the Gabra held a very unusual pan-Gabra meeting, the Kora Dibbe Shan, in Balessa in February 1998, their traditional leaders and assembled elders (some 350 men altogether) also spoke out strongly against inter-group fighting. Eighteen laws were reinforced and promulgated. Law xvi states It is illegal to all Gabra to attack Rendille, Turkana, Buiji and Degodia people. Note, however, that no mention is made of their prime enemies, the Dassanetch. That, however, was partially remedied in mid-July 1999 by the 'Peace and Reconciliation' meeting between the Gabra and the Dassanetch held at the KWS headquarters in Sibiloi National Park. This was initiated and sponsored by the Catholic Mission of North Horr, with PACODEO joining the bandwagon. 67 Over 100 elders, church workers (both Catholic and Protestant), officials and administrators were formally invited, and anyone else who wanted to attend was welcome; 91 invitees came, and there were a total of 161 participants. 68 Although government ofiicials such as chiefs and councillors, especially those from North Horr, were initially reluctant to come, at the last minute many did. The guest of honour was the DO North Horr, Stephen Mbasu, andit was he who gave the opening speech. The MP North Horr, Dr Bonaya, was, however, conspicuous by his absence. Since he is also Kenya's Foreign Minister, his other duties may well have precluded his attending, but the Dassanetch took it as an insult that he did not even send a message. 69 Ethiopian government officials from
67 PACODEO is a minuscule Marsabit-based NGO, headed by a young Gabra from Dukana. Like most of these new little NGOs, much of their eiiergy goes into writing proposals, tiying to get money from donors - with whom 'peace and reconciliation' projects are currently popular. 68 The number included 20 'security personnel' who had accompanied the various vehicles, and 6 women who came as cooks. (The organizers wanted to include women, particularly leaders of the various local women's groups, but since it is agaiiist tradition for women to take part in public meetings, the elders would have resented their presence. So they had to be brought in as cooks.) 69 There is no love lost between Dr Bonaya and the Dassanetch. Bonaya is a
169 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
Omorati together with representatives of the Hamar Koke and Arbore communities across the border had also been invited, but although three days prior to the meeting they confirmed they would be coming, they were never heard from again. Nevertheless, the meeting was adjudged a success. The four working days were spent disaissing the reasons for the age-old hostilities between the two groups, and also the problems between the Sibiloi National Park authorities and the two groups who are constantly encroaching on the park for grazing. The participants came up with some sensible resolutions and the meeting concluded by establishing a ten-man 'Interim Peace and Reconciliation Committee' from each group to oversee their implementation. At the end the ten men from each side stood in two lines and formally shook hands. The atmosphere of this first-ever meeting between Gabra and Dassanetch was universally described by all the participants we talked with asextremeIy positive, remarkably amicable. Unfortunately, the peace was broken within a couple of months when one of a group of Gabra who had invaded the park was shot dead by KWS personnel, who claimed the group had been behaving in an arrogant manner, threatening the KWS. It was broken again in November with the wounding of a Dassanetch boy at Karari (Hichaba Lokorimoe, 2 November) and the killing of a Dassanetch man at 11gm lilt (Laban Naguno, 17 November). Naturally, Gabra were blamed. But the Gabra committee, formed precisely to deal with such incidents, took no action whatsoever. (In the latter case they blamed the murder on the Borana.) Nor did PACODEO appear on the scene. it was only the priest from the North Horr Catholic Mission who took a couple of Gabra to try to assess the situation. The Dassanetch have to date refrained from taking revenge but when we returned to Ileret in January 2000 they assured us that if a third incident occurs and no effective action is taken by the police/GSU or the Gabra (or Borana), they will revenge in the time-honoured traditional way. The Catholic Church has been in the forefront of trying to encourage reconciliation and peace-making. In 1998 Isaiah Eikalo, a Rendille priest at the Catholic University of East Africa, presented as his thesis a study entitled Inter-ethnic conflicts in Marsabit Diocese. His work is marred by
KANU stalwart while in the last election the Dassanetch voted almost unanimously for the opposition party Sauna.
170 GLIMMERS OF LIGHT
his repeated assertion that 'to claim that the nomadic communities are a war-like people is wrong' (p. 55), for each and every of the pastoral groups honours its warrior heroes, and to deny this is to avoid getting to one of the real roots of the problem. He also misrepresents the cause of the 'Shifta War'. Nevertheless, his study, from which we have quoted several times, suggests positive ways conflicts can be dealt with, with reference to Catholic principles and policies. Other churches have also been concerned about the problems of peace. In 1997 the Mennonite Central Committee published an exceptionally attractive book called Honey and Heil&, Grasses, Milk and Water; a heritage of diversity iki reconciliation. Unfortunately, although the design is lovely and the watercolour illustrations (by two Sudanese artists) are enchanting, the texts (by eight authors, all men and most young, one from each of eight pastoral groups) are poor, both in content and style. The section on the Borana, which opens the book, was written by a schoolboy from Sololo, where there are over 15,000 settled Borana, engaged in agriculture. He starts The Borana community is a pastoralist community that wanders with its herds from one place to another, looking for water and green pastures. Unlike many pastoral communities, the Borana community will never intrude on the territory of other ethnic groups... the Borana will never be fouiid hostile with-other pastoral communities. Two sentences on he says They can raid the herds of the Rendille and Somali. And so on, in the same vein. Although doubtless compiled with the best of intentions, this sort of misinformation does not help the situation at all.' 0 The themes of interethnic cooperation and peace-making are now so popular with donors that new NGOs are including them in their 'agendas', for they almost automatically ensure support and funding. For example, in 1998, several bright young men formed a little Self-Help Fishing Group to set up a fishing project at Moite, on the eastern shore of Lake Turkana. They called it DAWSGABO, an acronym for Dassanetch-WaataS-
70 The author of the brief section on the Gabra records some Gabra peace prayers but says nothing at all about processes of reconciliation throughout the pretty pamphlet.
171 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
Gabra-Borana, and stress that people from all these groups will be members (although they are employing Turkana to do the actual fishing). This, too, has the backing of the Catholic Church; the mission of North Horr not only serves as their advisor and banker but even helped them improve the track to their lakeside site. Several Gabra formed a tiny NGO called CODENET (Community Development Network) in Bubisa Location (Marsabit District) in 1998. The final 'activity' of the eleven listed in their brochure is Forming of lobby groups to improve peace, through discussions with elders of neighbouring groups. PACODEO, too, is turning its attention (and fund-raising public relations) almost exclusively towards peace and reconciliation. What is interesting about all these moves towards peace and reconciliation is that the government is generally conspicuous by its absence. However, the Pastoralist Parliamentary Group is trying to remedy that Samburu East MP Sammyteshore, who is an executive committee member, complaining about 'efforts to split and compromise some members of the group', urged elected leaders from the pastoralist communities to embrace a spirit of teamwork initiated with the formation of the group last year. He said, 'We would like to caution our detractors that any effort to frustrate our goals to unite the pastoralis communities, to fight banditry and rustling, willbe countered at all costs.' He said the future of the country would depend on uinty among Kenyans of different ethnic groups. (Nation 15/2/99) But, he told journalists, plans to split and compromise some members of the group were being spearheaded by a senior cabinet minister who is also a power. Even on the official side there are glimmers of hope. On 15 December the Sololo Hospital Mobile Clinic made its monthly trip to Forole, a village which is little more than a police post. The clinic team told us on their return that Kenyan cattle were now being allowed to drink on the Ethiopian side of the border (see Chapter 4, 'Traditional migrations for grazing and rituals'), and that very day there had been a meeting between the Forole police and their counterparts from Ethiopia - although the team could not tell us what had been said.
172 GLIMMERS OF LIGHT
Although we intended to bring this report to an end with the end of 1999, such a remarkable peace meeting was held in January 2000 that we are stretching our report to include it, so as to end on a hopeful note. When we were in Mars abit in December, shortly after the third assassination, the atmosphere of the town was extremely tense. The DC's assurances of a peace meeting had come to nought. As a friend later wrote us The peaceful state [of Marsabit town] again changed to bloodshed and the town people who used to be busy in town even beyond midnight were rushing to their home as from six o'clock in the evening and the normal business in the town was brought to a standstill and the town was quiet as a graveyard because everyone was fearing for their own life for it was not known who will be the next to be taken away, Those who were greatly affectd were the business people, the women who were selling miraa, miraa chewers, alcoholic drinkers, Muslims who were fasting were fearing to go to Mosque to do their prayers and all those who were engaged in any night duty in town were not going due to fear and the issue of killing was not common to the people in the area and some have even migrated to a more peaceful place in the district. The Gabra were suspecting Borana were behind the killing of Doctor Sora and this led to hatred between the two tribes and though the government were trying their best to restore the peace, nothing was achieved because rumours were still in the town [there was said to be a hit-list of over 30 Gabra circulating] and they (the two tribes) were organizing themselves to be ready to start the clashes anytime. As we were on our way back we heard via the police radio in Ileret on 16 January that a policeman, a down-country AP at the Chief's Camp right in Marsabit town, had been shot dead that night. 7' We returned to Marsabit ten days later expecting to find the town even more terrorized. Instead, people were almost exultant with relief. That fourth assassination had filially precipitated a huge three-day peace meeting, organized with amazing rapidity by the people themselves, the elders, their MPs and local government officials. Although it involved
71 The reason for the killing is n.ot clear. The nmst common explanation we heard was that the gunmen were after another AP in the same camp, one who was related to Qala Wako Bere, who had been assassinated 12 August, but they shot the down- country AP by mistake.
173 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
everyone in Marsabit, it was essentially between the Borana and the Gabra and was conducted in theirlanguage. As had been stated in the 1988 Gumi Gayo, and reconfirmed in the 1996 Gumi Gayo, The Booran have a good tradition of living peaceably with other ethnic groups. This tradition has to be maiiitained. The Booran should not kill especially Gabraa, for they have the custom of 'dikoo' (yaa'a). The Booran should render them due respect... (Huqqaa n.d.) Now this was translated into action. From Marsabit there were 15 Borana and 15 Gabra, from Moyale another 15 Borana (including 5 from Sololo) and 12 Gabra. All four MPs were there (although Dr Bonaya's other duties prevented him staying foi the entire meeting), and also the Marsabit DC and District Security Officer. All told, over 60 people took part. The group held two days of closed meetings (20-2 1 January, at the Catholic Pastoral Centre), thrashing out the problems and working out practical resolutions. On the third day, Saturday 22 January, they held a public baraza near the market. It was so crowded it looked as if the whole town attended. The most significant resolution was the formation of a committee of Marsabit elders to ensure that peace is maintained. The committee members, chosen by the elders of the communities themselves, consist of five elders each from the Borana, Gabra, Burji and Rendille, two from the Turkana and two from the 'down-country' community. The committee meets every Monday at the DC's board room to review the situation in and around town. In particular they are trying to put a halt to the rumour- mongering that causes so much tension in Marsabit. They have been authorized by the District Security Officer to call in anyone they find spreading rumours and to warn him (or her); if the person refuses to desist, they are then reported to the DSO. The chairman of the committee is a Borana, the secretary/treasurer a Gabra. In the baraza the committee members were lined up and introduced to the public, and the committee's role explained. In line with time-honoured Borana and Gabra traditions, blessings were invoked for the reconciliation, for the committee and all the people who had helped bring the meeting about Similarly, trouble-makers were publicly cursed with formal maledictions such as:
174 GLIMMERS OF LIGHT
Naminag dide, ashun! Whosoeyer opposes peace, may he perish. Nami waan hamlu y1te, wonte hamtu icat thebaite/ Whosoever contemplates evil things, may the evil turn back on him. Naminam /jese, Waaqiisiijethi! Whosoever kills a person, may God kill him. (personal communication from people present) After the meeting the previous MP, JJ Falana, who had long been known to be behind much of the troubles, slunk away by himself. Young Abdi Tarn Sasura who had unseated him with the slogan LATTU, 'Let All The Tribes Unite', toldus with justifiable pride and relief that his campaign promise was being honoured. This extraordinary meeting was reported on the radio. But, as in the case of the important Sibiloi Park peace meeting between the Gabra and the Dassanetch six months earlier, not one of Kenya's newspapers gave it even a line! Nor did it rate one moment of TV coverage. 72 Despite their best efforts, in these cases truly remarkable efforts, the people of the north are still in many respects 'The Forgotten People'.
72 However a video was made of the public baraza,
175 Appendix: Population statistics
Population figures or the number of households (hh) are mcluded to give some idea of the size of places we have been talking about. A household averages five people. Since ethnicity is important, the basic ethnic composition is given. Many villages have at least one or two Waata and Konso families; these are not enumerated.
Town populations and ethnicity (from various soures): ileret 1200 Dassanetch Maikona 2000 (Gabra) Marsabit 16000 (mixed) North Hon 4000 (mostly Gabra —but including 240 hh Waata; Turkana, about 30 hh, Borana, about 20 hh)
Since the 1989 census was totally unreliable, and the details from the 1999 census have not yet been released, we are including here the Catholic Church's 1989 figures (rounded oft) for those parishes that fall within the scope of our report. The figures are ibr the whole parish area, not just the town. Kanue 4000 Kargi 7000 Maikona 7500 Marsabit 33000 Môyale 31000 North Hon 22000 Sololo 18000 Sololo parish includes Sololo village, Dambala Fachana, Sololo Makutano, Turbi, Than, Walda. The population is purely Borana, with a scattering of a few Waata and Konso families, and a few Gabra Miigo in Sololo Makutano and Uran Goda.
176 A P P PEN 1) IX
The following figures for numbers of households in villages in the Sololo area are those of December 1998 from the Sololo Hospital which runs a Mobile Clinic in these outlying villages. Aiona 280 hh Dambala Fachana 245 hh Mado AdJu 159 hh Sololo Makutano 312 hh Uran 1000 hh Waye Goda 135 hh The figure for i Tran is for 'greater Uran', which includes Uran Dida, Uran Goda, Lataka, Keramso, Qicha and Qiltippe.
The following are figures and ethnic composition for households in villages in the Marsabit area. Except for Kitunini, the figures were provided by Fl-TI (with the proiso that they may be rather out of date). l3adassa 356 liii (Borana, l3uiji) Dirib Gombo 241 liii (Borana, Buiji) Hula Hula 287 hh (Rendille, Sambuni) Kaiare 600 hh (Rendille, Samburu) Kituruni 224 hh (Rendille, Samburu, 7 Turkana) Manyatta Jillo 378 hh (Borana, Burji) Saaiite 280 hh (Borana, Burji) Songa 340 hh (Rendille, Sambuni, 5 Turkaria)
177 Annotated retérences
Bashuna, All Balla. 'The Waata, Hunter-Gatherers of Northern Kenya', Kenya Past and Present25: 36-38 (1993). The first description of this ethnic group published by one of its members. Brown, Monty. Where Giants Trod, the Sa,,a ofKenya c Desert Lake (Quiller Press, London 1989). Meticulously researched and handsomely produced, this is an excellent summary of the peoples and exploratioiis of iiorthcrn Kenya. Of particular interest is the chapter 'The Theodolite Brigade', which details the various demarcations of the Kenya-Ethiopia border. Darley, Major Henry. Slaves and Ivoiy (H.F. & G. Witherby, London 1926). These memoirs by a British adventurer give a lively picture of ]ie area where Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and the Sudan meet in the first decade of this century and the machinations of the various powers, particularly Menclik II's southward-expanding Arnharic empire. Dutton, E.A.T. Lil/ibullero or The Golden Road (printed privately, Zanzibar 1944). Written as a tribute to a friend, 'Titch' Miles, who was then British COnSUl at Mega, with the personalities of Gerald Reece (DO Moyalc) arid Vincent Glciiday (DC NFD) also writ large, this rare book gives an c1raor(linanly vivid picture of the problems on the Kenya-Ethiopia border in the early 1930s and the attitudes of the administrators towards the peoples for whom they were responsible. Eikalo, Fr Isaiah. 'Intci-ethnic conflicts in Marsabit Diocese, a quest lbr reconciliation' (MA thesis, Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Nairobi 1998). Fedders, Andrew, and Cynthia Salvadori. Peoples and Cultures ofKenya (Transaftica, Nairobi and Rex Collings, London 1979, reprinted 1980, 1982, 1988, 1989; in association with Primrose Sundries, Nairobi 1994, 1998). This now classic illustrated ethnographic survey describes, group by group, each of the ethnic communities listed in the 1979 census. Goveriimcut of Kenya. 'Report of the Northern Frontier District Commission, 1962' (H.M.S.O., Nairobi 1962). This government publication is a contemporary report of the referendum held in the NFD to enable the inhabitants to decide if they wished to join already independent Somalia or stay with about-to-be independent Kenya. Huqqaa, Go]loo, The 37th Gumii Gaayo Assembly 119961 (Norwegian Church \!cl. Addis Ababa n.d.) Hussein Sora F oundation for Human Rights and Democracy. 'The Government Bandits; the case of double banditry in the Waso Region' (HSF, Nairobi, October 1999).
178 ANNOTATED REFERENCES
Heaton, Torn. In Teleki's Footsteps (Macmillan, London 1984). While walking up the east side of Lake Turkana to Ileret, the author sees for himself the results of ethnic clashes in the area. L1oydJones, W. Ha vash! (Arrowsmith, London 1925). Subtitled Frontier Adventures in Kenya, the author describes his years (1910-1913) as the commander of the Abyssinian Company of the King's Allican Rifles in the north of Kenya. (Fhis was during the era when the NFD was under military administration.) Maciel, Mervyn. Bwana Kanini (Merlin Books, Braunton 1985). A charming autobiography by a Goan who served as a clerk in the colonial administration in the 1950s. Of particular interest is the early section covering the period when he was posted in Marsabit - which he loved (and still does). Mennonite Central Committee. Honey arid Heifei; Giisses, Milk and Watei; a heritage ofdiversityth reconcilithon (Mennonite Central Committee, Nairobi 1997). A beautifully produced but poorly edited publication showing that the ethnic groups of the north have traditions of making peace as well as making war. PACODEO. 'Report on Gabra and Dassanetch Peace and Reconciliation Meeting at Alia Bay KWS Centre, 12-15 july 1999'. Reece, Alys, To My Wife 50 Camels (Harvill Press, London 1963). A very readable account by the wife of Gerald Reece, starting when he was appoiniccl DC Marsabit in 1937 and ending when he was transferred to be govenir of Somalia in 1948. Like Dutton's earlier book and Trench's later one, it describes not only activities going on at the time, but also the attitudes of the administi'ators towards the people for whom they were responsible. Schlee, GUnther. Identities on the Move, clanship and pastora/ism in northern Kenya (Gideon S. Were Press, Nairobi 1994; first published 1989). An excellent description of the relationships between several of the etlmic communities in northern Kenya. Shongolo, Abdullahi A. 'The Gumi Gaayo Assembly of the Boran', ZeitschriIifiir Ethno/ogie 119 (1994). Sobania, Neal W. Background History ofthe Mt Ku/al Region ofKenya (IPAL Technical Report A-2, Nairobi 1979). This is particularly valuable for his combining written colonial records with the oral records of the individual ethnic groups. Spoerry, Anne. They Cal/Me Mama Daktth(Moulin Publishers, Norval 1996). This autobiography by Kenya's famous Flying Doctor gives a good picture of her work in northern Kenya (and the medical situation in general there). Survival International. 'Unquiet Pastures, the nomadic peoples of North East Kenya', a 14-page Information Document (Survival International, London 1992). Although this pamphlet deals with ethnic tensions and the abuse of human rights in the Wajir area, some of it is relevant to Mars abit and Moyale districts.
179 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
Tablino, Paul. The Gabni, caniLinolnads ofnorthemn Kenya (Paulines Publications, Nairobi 1999). A fine, illustrated ethnographic monograph; it includes the oral history of the Gabra, the history of Marsabit town, and the history of the Catholic missions in the area. Trench, Charles Chenevix. The Desert's Dusty Face (William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh and London 1964). An autobiography of a colonial administrator who was in Kenya 1950-1963; after starting as DC Garissa he became PC Northern Province. -. The Men Who Ruled Kenya, the Kenya Admthistration 1892-1963 (Radcliffe Press, London and New York 1993). A historical survey describing the policies of the administration and the administrators themselves, largely in their own words. Chapters 11, 12 and 15 are specifically about northern Kenya, where the author himself served. Wood, Michael. Go an Extra Mile (Collins, London 1978). Autobiography by one of Kenya's original Flying Doctors and the founder of AMREF.
180 Index of people
Since people of Marsabit and Moyale are generally kiiowii by their first two names in that order, or by their title and first iiame, that is how they are listed in this index. (Cllr councihlor, Hg homeguard)
To help in identification, the person's home has also been noted, and/or the place where the incident in which that person was involved occurred. OF 1)arnbala Fachana, MA Mado Adi, Msbt Marsabit, SI = Sololo)
An asterisk * indicates the person was killed.
Abba Qapsoo (Moyale) 119, 125 APjoseph Roba (Sololo) 131 Abdi Denge Roba (Ethiopia) 106,108 AP Kennedy Andiema (Dabel) 100 Abdi Adow (Godoma) 112 *Arbe Guyo (Dizib Gombo road) Si Abdin Asar Hussein (Marsabit) 17 tArbe jaldesa (Badessa) 49 *Abd]i All (Shum road, Msbt) 126, Barsium family (Marsabit) 137 133-36 Born Dida (Ethiopia) 90 * Abc! ulahi Mohammed (Shura road, Born Galgallo Wako (Kubi Qallo) 54, Msbt) 136 *B m Jarso Bitacha (Badassa) 49 *Abdulkadir Wachile (highway, Merille) Botu Sure Mohammed Galgalo (Dabel) 136 17 Abdullahi Mohammed (Godorna) 112 *Buluk Durow Elmi (DF) 59 Abudo Guyo (DF) 88, 116 * Cherotich (Odha landinine) 17, 102 Ahudo Tullu (Kokai, North Horr) 65 Chief Abdikadir Gedow (Gumi) 112 1\çfflflj Lorro (Kitumni) 50 Chief Boru (Maikona) 33 Adan Au (Marsabit) 54, 57, 163 Chief Galma Dabasso (Sololo) 26. 33, *Aden Mohammed Abikar (DF) 59 87,153 Adi Barako (Gus) 18 Chief Hussein Noor (Uran) 97 Adi (;odia (Sololo) 86 Chief Hukka Gulet (Sololo) 97 Aluned Ibraliun (highway) 134 Chief Jattaiui Katole (Uran) 83-84 'Aku' Mangia (Marsabit) 70, 135, 136 Chief Liban Wako Gede (DF) 99 *Ali Abdullahi Abdinthmaii (DF) 59 Chief (Asst) Abakame Jib (Uran) 82 All Balla Bashuiia (Marsabit) 39 Chief (ex) Guyo Karayu (Butiye/Moyale) *AJj Foora (Nairobi) 80n 150,162 *Alijawtui Tandu (Eth./Nairobi) 80 Chief (Asst) Hide Hilary (Ileret) 27 *Ali Lentilalu (Karantina) 52 Chief (Asst) Ibrahim Abdi Dido (Sololo All Wako (DF) 88, 112 Makutano) 95, 97 Anderson Micheni (Moyale) 86 * Chief (Asst) John Buke Liban (Golole) Andrew litubugo (Songa) 47, 49 84,87 Andrew Loborokwe (Kituruth) 46 Chief (Asst) John Guyo Som (MA) 85,
*Afltofl3 . johamia Lebardei (Songa) 45 *Antony Kidakhan Esimbasele (Lcyei) 45 Chief (Asst) Roba Dima (Boii) 99
181 Index of people
Since people of Marsabit and Moyale are generally known by their first two names in that order, or by their title and first name, that is how they are listed in this index. (Cur = councillor, Hg = homeguard) To help in identification, the person's home has also been noted, and/or the place where the incident in which that person was involved occurred. (DF = Dambala Fachana, MA Mado Adi, Msbt Marsabit, Si Sololo)
An asterisk * indicates the person was killed. Abba Qapsoo (Moyale) 119,125 APjoseph Roba So1oio) 131 Abdi Denge Roba (Ethiopia) 106, 108 AP Kennedy Andiema (Dabel) 100 Abdi Adow (Godoina) 112 *Jsbe Guyo (Dirib Gombo road) 51 Abdin Asar Hussein Marsabit) 17 *Mbe jaldesa (Badessa) 49 *AbcIuij Au (Shura road, Msbt) 126, Barsium family (Marsabit) 137 135-36 Born Dida (Ethiopia) 90 'Ahdulalii Mohammed (Shura road, Born Galgallo Wako (Kubi Qallo) 54. Msbt) 136 * Born Jarso Bitacha (Badassa) 49 * Abdulkadir Wachile (highway, Meiille) Botu Sure Mohammed Galgalo (Dabel) 136 17 Abdullahi Mohammed (Godoma) 112 *Buluk Durow Elmi (DF) 59 Al)udO Guyo DF) 88, 116 * Cherotich (Odha landminc) 17,102 A1)udo Tullu (Kokai, North Horr) 65 Chief Abdikadir Gedow (Gurar) 112 Achimi Lorro (Kituruni) 50 Chief Born (Maikona) 33 Adau All (Marsabit) 54, 57, 163 Chief Galma Dabasso (Sololo) 26, 33, *A(1eI Mohammed Abikar (DF) 59 87,153 Adi Baiako (Gus) 18 Chief Hussein Noor (Uran) 97 Adi (;odia (Sololo) 86 Chief Hukka Gulet (Soiolo) 97 Ahmed Ibrahim (highway) 134 Chief Jattani Katole (Uran) 83-84 'Aku' Mangia (Marsabit) 70, 135, 136 Chief Ubaii Wako Gede (DF) 99 *Ali Abdullahi Abdimhmau (DF) 59 Chief (Asst) Abakame Jib (lJran) 82 All Balla Bashuna (Marsabit) 39 Chief (cx) Guyo Karayu (Butiye/Moyale) *AJj Foora (Nairobi) 80n 150,162 * Ali Jattani Tandu (Eth./Nairobi) 8(: Chief (Asst) Hide Hilaiy (Ileret) 27 *AII Lentilalu (Karantina) 52 Chief (Asst) Ibrahim Abdi Dido (Sololo Ali Wako (DF) 88, 112 Makutano) 95, 97 *AJ derSOI Micheni (Moyale) 86 *Clief (Asst) John Buke Liban (Golole) Aiidrew Iltubugo (Songa) 47, 49 84,87 Andrew Lob orokwe (Kituruni) 46 Chief (Asst) John Guyo Sora (MA) 85, *Aflt). ofiaiuia Lebardei (Songa) 45 98 * Antoiiy Kidakhaii Fsimbasele (Lcyei 45 Chief (Asst) Roba Dima (Boii) 99
181 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
Chief (Asst) Sulernan Bajago Hukana Dr Enrica Pazè (Sololo) 59 (Sololo Ramata) 26, 153 DrJama Wolde (Marsabit) 17, 18, 18, *Chif (Asst) Taro (Gabriel Kalicha) 148 Sora (MA) 82-85 Duba Galgallo Mi (Gabra Schcme) 51 *Chochana Harro Dida (Eth./U'ran) 88 Duba Guyo (Marsabit) 143-44 Christine Leborokwe (Kituruni) 46 Dub Günyo (Marsabit) 53 CUr All Adano (Dukana) 148 Elema Kanano (Sololo) 102, 105, 108 Cur Dido Guyo (Balessa) 105 Fr Angelo D'Apice (Sololo) 92, 130-33 Cllr Galgallo Tuye (N. Horr) 105, 147, Fr Antonio Santinoli (Sobolo) 83, 129 148,163 Fr Antony Maul (North Hon) 16,66, Cllr Golicha Galgalo (Butiye) 124 77, 105, 108, 147-48 Cllrjarso jib Godana (Sololo) 26,124 Fr Hubert Moesner (North Horr) 66, dr 'Ruba' Amos Tachan (Ileret) 146, 70 147 Fr Isaiah Eikalo Marala1) 49, 76, 125, Cllr Turn Mamo (1'urbi) 148,154 128, 164, 170 Dabasso Diba (Uran) 88 Fr Melaku (Sololo) 127 Dabasso Molu Marsabit 134 Fr Paul Tablino (Marsabit) 49 Dadacha Galgalo (Marsabit) 134 Fr Richard Tyroller (North Horr) 151 *Didrichoya Harchawa (Ririma/Kargi) *Fer j Gambare (Kamntjna) 52 56 Gabro Sara Arero (Karbururi) 86 Dansa Adan Thururu (Marsabit) 54, *GaJah Kubes (Songa) 48 163 Galgalo Doyo Huka (Ethiopia) 108 DC joash Miyoma MarsabiO 25, 34, Galgalo Kotu (Marsabit) 134 103ii, 109, 141, 148, 155n Galma family (Marsabit) 142-43 DC Lucas Kosilbet (Marsabit) 103n, Galma Kalicha Godo (Anona) 87 163,164 *Galb (Hula Hula) 56 DC Muli Malombe (Marsabit) 16, 66, * Gambare (Ogicho/Hula Hula) 56 67,165 *Gdj Bati (Marsabit) 152 1)C Stephen Kipkebut Moyale) 97, Geinya Mohammed (Moyale) 134 106, 107, 117, 123, 125, 150,162 George Ga1gao Guyo (Maikona) 41 DC Ole Legei Moya1e) 124 Gila Bji (Dub Goba/Shurn) 47 DC Osare (Moyale) 61 Gindole Katelo Maikona 33 Diba Bante (Waye Goda) 93 *Gina Hirbo (Karantina/Msbt) 53 Dida Born (highway) 134 GolloWolde (Moyale) .152 Dida Dimajarso (Boii) 94 Gufu All (Kubi Qallo) 50 Dida Galma (Badassa) 144-45 Guracha Bisiko (Butiye) 81 Dima Baie (Sololo Ramo1e) 92-93 Guyato Budha (Urnn) 100 Dirna Chathna (Mado Adi) 154 * Guyato Sora (Dirib Gombo road) 51 DO Ikunga (Sololo) 26 Guyo Diba (Marsabit) 134 DO Lukinyi (Sololo) 26, 91, 153 Guyo Dido (Marsabit) 134 DO M N Wambua (Marsabit) 19 Guyo Duba (Qachacha) 51 DO Simon Wanjohi Kimiti (Sololo) 26 Guyo Galgallo Ware (Kubi Qailo) 52 DO Stephen Mbasu (North Horr) 169 Guyo Halkano (Uran) 88 *Dk t Waso (Kom/Bubisa) 150 Guyo Kiya (Sololo) 76, 116-17, 123 *Dokatu Sora Cluto (Manyattajillo) 19 *Guyo Miyo (Moyale) 85
192 INDEX
Guyo Wako Galgalo (Ambalo) 165 *Ji1j1( Wario (Ethiopia/WG) 95 c;uyo Wako Mole (MA) 84 *Jitma Kobosha Bonaya (Kom/Bubisa) * Habjba 'Faro Sora (wile of Asst Chief 1.50 Taro Som, MA) 82 Jirnio Baggajja (Marsabit) 18, 162 Haji Hassaji Shcikli Ali (imam, jn-mo 1)ida (iicar 1)ukana) 85 Moyale) 88-89, 117, 122 Joim Bosco Yeiar Losogo (Beret) 151 Halake (army driver, Moyale) 60 John Iya Ibrac (El Adi) 91-92, 116, 1 2 Halakejillo (DF) 88,116 Joseph Orkhor Matacho (Kargi) 56 Halakc Kinni (Aiiona) 80 Julius Malicha Sora (Sololo) 82 *Halake Roba (Waye Coda) 86 Kabale Dadacha (Songa) 146 *HilakC Wario (Mado Adi) 82,83 Kala Wako (Mamal)it) 48 Halima Galgalo (Moyale) 111 Kalicha Dima (Forole) 86 Halirna Ibrahim (Moyalc) Ill Kahcha 1)uba (Golole) 87 *Harchawa (Ririrnargi) 56 *Kellyath Said Chute (higliway/Msbt) Havi Lull jaldcsa Tacho (Mandcr4 64 las Helen Gourlay (Sololo) 130-31 * Khuyan Logo1ogo/Kituruni) 54 Herny 1)omman (Marsabit) 18 *Komc (Fmanyata/Moya1c) 61 Hichaba Lokorimoc (Ileret) 73, 170 Koto Galina (Matsabit) 143 * Hg Abdulahi Omar (Mansilc) 106 Kule l)adacha (Songa) 146 Hg Francis Umelewan Alyar (Songa) 50 *Labatl Naguno (Beret) 73, 170 Hg Galgalo Roba Wacho (DF) 89-90, 91 • Lciborkhc Orguba (Songa) 'kS Hg Golicha Guyo Alrndo (1)F) 90,91, LekaPula (Logologo/Kitunmi) 54 159 * Lcnccpe Logo1ogo!Kitur..mi 54 Hg Luhulo Mele Dubsahai (Kargi) 56 *Lesunkai Lentoimaga (Soiiga) 49 * Hg Scicngti (Hula Hula) 56 liban Gayo (Sagante) 52 Hg Taari Liban (WG) 95 * Lkinta Lesuyai (Kitumni) 46 *Huka Bagaja (Odha) 82 * IA)ChOrOba lenkaina (Songa) 50 *Huqa Gobe (Karantin4/Msbt) 53 Lobook Lowoto (Horn Dika, N.Hon) 71 * Hussein 1)cra (1)iiib Combo road) 51 • LA)kai Lcpcan (Manyatta Girida) 50 Hussein Jaldesa Tacho (Manclera) 64 •Lopaiwi Epul (North Horr) 71 * Hussein Sora (lawyer, Nairobi) vi, 86 • Llapaua Lckomboi (Kituruui) 46 Hussein Tula (Ethiopia) 90 *lieree Lesuyai (Kituruni) 46 *thr Dido Funanya1WArnrna) 61 * Llcsckwc Lcborokwc (Kiturunj) 46 Ibrae Manio Guyo (Gabra Scheme) 51 *Luge Diba (M yal) 111 Ibrahim Mohammed (Gxloma) 112 Madobc Ibrahim (1)abcl) 107 *Iddo (Shura road, Marsabit) 136 *Makj Leborokwe (Kitunini) 46 *fl1j Khuyan (Songa) 50 Mamalo Mirgichan (Songa) 47 *Ilmemben Bulyar (Gutus) 55 Marako Denge (Marsabit) 134 • Issack Aixiullahi (Ethiopia/WG) 95 * Marian Sliongolo Ibre&hun *Isaqo Abudo Arabtirs 72 (Funanyat/MoyaIe) 61 jarso Sora Guyo (Walda) 75 Marsdcn Madoka (govt minister) 43, 61, Jatani Huka Galgalo (Ethiopia) 108 62,140, 165, 166 Jibni Billow (Coloic) 60 *M )fl Lcsuyai (Kituruni) 46 JilloBuc1ha(EJran) 100,116,123 *M'Athura Kiarie Ntorekanya (Marsabit) Jilla Galma (Marsabit) 142 57
183 THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE REVISITED
*Mboi Orrnakhayo Kargi) 55 PC Maurice Makhanu (NEP) 63, 64, Michael Batterman (lleret) 67, 69 112,117, 139 *Mp jyon Neepe (Kitumni) 46 PC Ishmael Chelang'a (EP) 87 Mohamed Elema Kanano (Sololo * Philip Mala Galgalo (Funanyat/So1o1o) Makutano) 102,108 61,99 Mohamed Shanko Konso (Marsabit?) 'Prof Lenana Musa (Moyale) 152 37 Qala Sara (Ethiopia) 90 *M1 ed Abdullah Farah (DF) 59 *Qala Wako Bere Marsabit) 57, 58, *Mo1 red Dadacha aka MD 113-14, 173n Survivor (Funanyata/Moyale) 60, 61 Qumbi (Dika) Dima (Sololo Ramole) Mohammed Dika (Moyale) 111 92-93 Mohammed Hilow (Yasare) 138 Rashid Abdulahi All (Marsabit) 135-36 * Mohammed 011oro Elmi (DF) 59 Retuma Lolomongoi (Marsabit) 167 Mohammed Osman Chito (Nbi) 42 Richard Esho (Ileret) 70 *Molu Blida (Uran) 97 * Roba Halake (WG) Molu Born Uban (Hadadi-DF) 80 Salesa Galgalo (North Horr) 147 Morme Abdud (Shura) 51 * Sailo Wano Born (Dirib Gombo) MP Abdi Tarn Susura ('LATTIJ') Salo Abudo (Kubi Qallo) 50 (Marsabit) 126, 127, 136, 145, 175 *Sambun Khuyan (Songa) 48,50 MP Adan Keynan (Wajir) 64 Sara Gindicha Katelo (WG) 153-54 MP Dr Bonaya Godana (N. Horr) 56, Sarah Bainbridge (Sololo) 130-31 58, 126, 127, 141, 148, 157, 168, 169 Sharemo All Guyo (Kubi Qallo) 50 MP Dr Guracha Galgalo (Moyale) 61, ShukeJattani (EthiopiWGolole) 106, 98, 117, 127, 140 149-50 MPJJ James Jib) Falana (Marsabit) Sora Dima (Sololo) 116,117 49, 80, 57, 125, 126,175 *Sorn Qere (Marsabit) 58, 113, 127, MP Mohammed Malicha Galgalo 141,173 (Moyale) 115, 124, 152 *SomJarso (Malka Dimtu) 54 MP Robert Kochalle (Laisamis) 56, 126, Tan Roba Dike (Boii) 94 127,168 Tiya Biliso Roba (Qicha) 99 MP Samwel Ntitoi Bulyar (Laisamis) 55, Tuke Hirbo (highway, Marsabit) 135 56 *Tulicha Kiya (Odha) 82 Mulato Barche (Marsabit) 133 Wako Golicha Kochoro (DF) 88 Mulicha Saku (Golole) 94 Wako Koru Borara (Forole) 108,150 *Mminki (MOW, Moyale; Odha *Wario Dabelo (Marsabit) 47 landmine) 101 Wario Guracha (Marsabit) 46, 143, 144 Nadow Ambu (Ethiopia) 95,160 Wario Guyo (Qachacha) 51 Nasibo Ibrahim (Funanyata/Moyale) 61 *Wario jaldesa Ruya (Marsabit) 48 *Ndale Belete (EthiopiWWaye Goda) Wario Wako Hukayo (Ethiopia) 108 95 Yarow Chichana (Gurar) 112 Ngida Lekomboi (Kituruni) 46 Yunis Mangia (MarsabitiTurbi) 138 *Nj Ohele (Kargi) 56 YussufJillo (Nbi) 96 Nuro (Mado Adi) 109 Yusuf Orte Soke (Marsabit) 48 *Nyirohole Bulla (Songa) 48 Zablon Salano (magistrate, Moyale) 133, *Omar Mohammed (Moyale) 134 163
184
Genera' Map of Northern Keny8
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lb WA1IR Sololo to Anona 4.5 km Sololo toGalole ...... 12,0 km Snioloto limo ...... 17.0 km Sololo to Macto Mhi ...... 7.0 km Sololo to Wayn Goda...... 11.0 km Sololo to Dambala Facharta ...... 15.0 km Sololoto Moyate...... S2.0 km DambalaFachana tobder -'o- ...... 7.0km Dambala Farhana to Thlca ...... 2.0 km Detailed map of Sololo-Moyale area
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To WAJIR Sololoto Mona ...... 4.5 km Sololo to Gable ...... 12.0 km Sololoto Uran ...... 17.0 km Sobolo to Macjo Adhi ...... 7.0 km Sololo to Waye Goda...... 11.0 km Sololo to Dambala Fachana ...... 15.0 km S.I.I. to Moyabe ...... ...... 82.0 km
Dambala Fachana to bordor (- - x —' ' ...... 3.0 km Dambala Fachaoa to Tccl:a ...... 12,0 km I District Administrative Boundaries II2 ETHOP1A I J NORTH HORR \ N 0 R T H H 0 R R
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-- - - Kenya Human Rights Commission - - 2000 F