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KENYA INTER AGENCY RAPID ASSESSMENT MANDERA COUNTY CONFLICT ASSESSMENT REPORT 19TH – 30TH JUNE 2014 KIRA – Mandera assessment – June 2014 1 1. CONTEXT Mandera County is one of the 47 counties in Kenya, located in the north -eastern part of Kenya and borders Ethiopia to the north, Somalia RepuBlic to the east and Wajir County to the south. It is aBout 1,100km from the capital city of NairoBi By road. The county has an approximate population of 1,025,756 and covers an area of 25,991.5 km2. The County is suBdivided into six sub counties namely Mandera West, Mandera South, Banissa, Mandera North, Mandera East and Lafey, which are further suB divided into 30 administrative wards. The county has 5 community groups namely Garre. Murule, Degodia, Marehan and Muhamad ZuBer. The county has had recurrent inter-clan conflicts in the past years over natural resources, administrative boundaries and politics. The Garre and Murulle have violently clashed in the past (1983/4, 2001/5 and 2007/8). The county was part of the “Northern Frontier Districts” (NDF) that took part in the Shifta wars has seen proliferation of small arms and light weapons, Terrorism by militia groups 1. Mandera is characterized By low-lying rocky hills located on the plains that rise gradually from 400 meters aBove sea level in the south at Elwak, to 970 meters above sea level with the Border with Ethiopia. The rest of topography is low-lying, characterized By dense vegetation with thorny shruBs of savannah type. Especially along the foothills of isolated hills, that are covered By Bushes, shruBs, boulders and invasive “mathenge” coverage. The flat plains make drainage very poor, causing floods during heavy rain. There are no lakes, swamps or dams But earth pans are common in the county. River Daua, covering a distance of approximately 150km along the Border, is a trans-boundary river whose source is the Ethiopian highlands, flows eastwards along the county‘s Boundary with Ethiopia and through Malkamari, Rhamu Dimtu, Rhamu, LiBehia, Khalalio and Township wards into Somalia at Border Point One (BP1). Ecological Conditions There are two ecological zones in the county namely Arid and Semi-arid. 95% of the county is semi-arid with dense vegetation mainly thorny shruBs and Bushes along foots of isolated hills and “mathenge” trees along river Banks and gullies. 1 CRECO 2012 KIRA – Mandera assessment – June 2014 2 2. OVERVIEW OF THE SITUATION AND CRISIS a. Background of the situation Tension has been mounting since March 2014 along Wajir-Mandera Border with the main cause reported to Be dispute over territorial boundaries between the two counties. The county government and other stakeholders have intervened through inter-county dialogues But the interventions have Been disrupted by attacks and counter-attacks By the warring clans. This has lead to population movements, family displacement, schools closed and health centers inaccessiBle. The conflict has had an impact on livelihoods, food security, education, vulnerable groups and health.2 The following casualties and deaths occurred in the month of May as a result of the clan conflict. 13th May (Burmayo 3deaths), 15th may (Towfiq 5 casualties, 5 deaths), 16th May (Gunana 1 casualty, 1 death),19th May(Manyatta 4 casualties, 3 deaths), 21st May (18Kms from GuBa-Banissa 1 casualty, 1 death), 28th May (Karsahama 5 casualties, 2 deaths). The clan conflict has Been compounded By increased attacks By Al-Shaabab militia in Mandera town and some parts of Lafey suB-county. Carjacking reportedly increased during the month of May. After analysis of the available secondary data, the decision to activate KIRA was reached in a stakeholders meeting. Kenya Red Crescent Society (KRCS), the lead agency for the assessment, formed an assessment team with different humanitarian actors active in the county. The stakeholders include: 1. The Mandera County Government – Ministries of PuBlic Service and Agriculture. 2. The Kenya Red Cross Society.(Lead Agency) 3. ACTED Kenya 4. Islamic Relief Kenya b. Affected areas and populations Despite the incidences happening mainly in Mandera-West and South, there was high movement of population from neighboring sub-counties, like Banissa, to areas Believed to Be safe. Because of protracted conflicts, the population opts to move far away from the Border areas of Wajir County with their livestock, which was targeted By the attacking groups. 2 KRCS rapid assessment report KIRA – Mandera assessment – June 2014 3 The table Below shows the approximate figure from the County authorities for population displaced as a result of the conflicts in four suB-counties: SuB-county Ward Displaced HH Displaced people Total pop. % IDPs Mandera south 3 486 28,585 278,216 10% ShimBir fatuma 1,036 8,495 Wargadud 1,425 11,685 Fincharo 255 2,091 Kutulo 770 6,314 Mandera west 7,741 63,476 181,162 35% Dandu 1,564 12,825 Takaba south 1,457 11,947 Takaba north 639 5,240 Lagsure 1,461 11,980 Derkale 2,550 20,910 Gither 70 574 Mandera North3 490 4,018 169,675 2% Rhamu dimtu 250 2,050 ola 200 1,640 Murutho 40 328 Banissa 3,540 29,028 177,607 19% Banissa 1,315 10,783 GuBa 720 5,904 Kiliwaheri 385 3,157 Malkamari 1,120 9,184 Total 15,257 125,107 806,660 16% Source: Mandera County Government: Ministry of PuBlic Service, Cohesion and Integration 3. METHODOLOGY: Brief description of the data collection methods The Kenya Initial Rapid Assessment (KIRA) is a multi-sector, multi-agency mechanism whose purpose is to provide a fast overview of a humanitarian situation, in order to: • Support evidence Based decision making in the early stages of a humanitarian response. • To provide an understanding of how humanitarian needs vary across different affected groups. • To identify where gaps may exist Between needs and local/national capacity to respond. • To identify further detailed information needs. The full methodology is described in the KIRA guideline available on the following link: https://kenya.humanitarianresponse.info/system/files/documents/files/KIRA Manual.pdf 3 The figure for Mandera North included only 3 suB locations. KIRA – Mandera assessment – June 2014 4 a. Assessment approach The assessment approach consists of three key elements: • The use of secondary data A combination of pre crisis and in crisis secondary data has been used to contextualize the primary data collected and understand the impact of the current crisis on the affected population. • The use of primary data and a community level assessment The KIRA methodology used three different tools for primary data collection: - Community Group Discussion male and female - Key Informant Interview at administrative level - Direct OBservation at site level. For this assessment, the mobile phone for data collection were not available and all the data have been enter in the excel database. • Joint analysis4 The aim of the joint analysis session is to agree as a group on assessment findings, priorities and recommendations. The field assessment participated in the joint analysis as well as expert from the KIRA core group. b. Assessment team composition NAME ORGANISATION CONTACT Hassannoor Adan County Team leader [email protected] Hassan Mumin Islamic Relief [email protected] Pauline Akoth Kenya Red Cross 0724 294 777 Mohamed Adan County Government 0722 959 054 Abdimumin Maow Acted 0714 075 677 c. Sites visited A purposive sampling approach has Been used to select sites to Be assessed. The living arrangement and the geographical repartition have Been the two main criteria for the site selection. The following tables show the numBer of sites and their geographical repartition. BANISSA MANDERA WEST MANDERA SOUTH MANDERA NORTH Total Resident hosting displaced persons 1 0 1 0 2 Displaced people in host families 3 2 3 3 11 Total number of CGD 4 2 4 3 13 4 Joint here means multi-sector and multi-stakeholder. KIRA – Mandera assessment – June 2014 5 Male Female Total Resident hosting displaced persons 1 1 2 Displaced people in host families 6 5 11 7 6 13 In total, 8 sites have Been selected in Didkuro, Sake, Kiliwehiri, ShimBir-fatuma, Eymole, Fincharo, Olla and Rhamu Dimtu suB locations. Normally, for each site, the team should conduct one female and one male Community Group Discussion (CGD) and one Direct OBservation (DO). During the assessment, different factors prevented the team in implementing the entire methodology. 13 CGDs instead of 16 CGDs and 3 DOs instead of 8. The team also interviewed 7 key informants (Chiefs and opinion leaders) in Didkuro, Gither, Kiliwehiri, ShimBir-fatuma, Eymole, Olla and Rhamu Dimtu locations. NOTE: The Assessment team selected the locations with the biggest number of displaced people to conduct community group discussions. It is assumed that the needs in the area with lower numBer of IDPs are less pressing. d. Map KIRA – Mandera assessment – June 2014 6 4. PRIORITY NEEDS / KEY FINDING a. Priorities needs Each Community Group was asked to rank their 3 highest priority needs for intervention. The calculation of the main priority per suB county is derived from the theory of election system, the Borda count.5 In all the sites visited, food was reported as the first priority, followed By water access and shelter. No major difference was observed between resident or displaced people. This could Be explained By the already fragile situation in Madera county Before the crisis and also the Burden on residents who host displaced familiesand share their limited resources. In the assessed sites, it was reported that some residents were hosting up to 5 displaced families. BANISSA MANDERA WEST MANDERA SOUTH MANDERA NORTH All SUB COUNTY Food security Water Shelter Sanitation NumBer of CDG 4 2 4 3 13 High Moderate Low Mandera County was already in IPC phase 2 (Stressed) Between April to June , with deterioration predicted between July and SeptemBer in some areas (IPC Phase 3 – Crisis) according to FEWSNET.

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