ISIOLO COUNTY, KENYA Public Disclosure Authorized Rapid Assessment of the Institutional Architecture for Conflict Mitigation Kennedy Mkutu Agade and Abdullahi Boru Halakhe Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized MARCH 2019 This work was conducted with support from the Kenya Accountable Devolution Program (KADP), led by Helene Carlsson Rex, and guidance from a World Bank team led by Margarita Puerto Gomez, Senior Social Development Specialist, Global Practice for Social, Urban and Rural Development, and Resilience (GSURR); Lisa Schmidt, Social Development Specialist, GSURR; Muratha Kinuthia, Social Development Specialist, GSURR; Neelam Verjee, Social Development Specialist, the Fragility, Conflict, and Violence Group (FCV-GT), Stephen Mogaka, conflict and violence prevention consultant, FCV-GT; and reviewers Abdi Umar, senior conflict prevention consultant; Olivia D’aoust, Senior Economist, GSURR; and Nikolai Hutchinson, head of section governance and security, Department for International Development (DFID) Also thanks to United States International University–Africa, National Crime Research Council, and Kenya School of Government for contributing research findings under the Crime and Violence Prevention Training Program. The authors wish to thank the team who assisted with the research process, the interviewees, focus group members, and informants, including our research assistants Adan Denge and Halkano Boru. Thanks to all county and national administrators, security personnel, interfaith and faith-based organizations, and civil society organizations and community members for their time and their insights. The World Bank team acknowledges the support provided by KADP donors, namely; Denmark, DFID, European Union (EU), Finland, Sweden and USAID. The Bank further acknowledges the support provided by the Frontier Counties Development Council (FCDC) and the County Government of Isiolo. Photos: © World Bank | Kennedy Mkutu Agade Editing and design: Laura Johnson Front cover photo: Community land and wildlife route in Kula Mawe, Isiolo. Back cover photo: Water pan in Kinna, such sites may cause dispute between herders over access and sustainable use of the resource. ISIOLO COUNTY, KENYA Rapid Assessment of the Institutional Architecture for Conflict Mitigation Contents Acronyms . iv Executive Summary . .v . Forms of Conflict and Violence in Isiolo County . .v Drivers of Conflict .................................................................. vi Devolution and Conflict .............................................................vii Responses to Conflict . vii Recommendations . ix 1 Introduction . 1 2 Isiolo County . 3 3 Conflict Dynamics . 6 Land and Law .......................................................................6 Intercommunal Resource-based Conflicts . 8 Intercounty Border Conflicts . .9 Conservation and Land Management ..................................................9 Large Infrastructure Projects, Investments, and Development ...........................10 Ethnopolitical Conflict . 12 Violent Extremism ..................................................................13 Small Arms ........................................................................13 Gender-based Violence . .14 4 Devolution and Conflict Dynamics . 16 ii 5 Responses to Conflict . 22 Peace and Security Architecture Since Devolution ......................................22 County Policing Authorities ..........................................................23 Formal Security . 23 Informal Security ...................................................................25 Peace-building Processes and Players .................................................26 Measures to Address Violent Extremism . 29 Summary . .30 6 Recommendations . 31 For Isiolo County Government . .31 For National Government . .31 For Civil Society, Interfaith Network, and Council of Elders . 32 For the World Bank .................................................................32 References . 33 Figures 3.1 Factors of Conflict and Peace in in Pastoralist East Africa . .7 5.1 Actors and Structures Relevant to Peace and Security in Kenyan Counties . .22 Tables 2.1 Administrative Divisions in Isiolo.......................................................3 3.1 Summary of Projects in Isiolo (as of July 2017).......................................... 11 4.1 Payments to Isiolo County Government, March 2013 to July 2017 . .21 5.1 Formal Security Forces in Isiolo County................................................23 5.2 Peacebuilding Players in Isiolo County.................................................26 5.3 Responses to Conflict: Summary . .30 iii Acronyms ACLED Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project CCCF County Climate Change Fund CIDP county integrated development plan DFID Department for International Development FCDC Frontier Counties Development Council GOK Government of Kenya KADP Kenya Accountable Devolution Program KNBS Kenya National Bureau of Statistics KWS Kenya Wildlife Service LAPSSET Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport LMD Livestock Marketing Division NPS National Police Service NPR National Police Reserve (formerly Kenya Police Reserve—KPR) NRT Northern Rangelands Trust Measurements km kilometer km2 square kilometer Currency KShs Kenyan shillings iv Executive Summary The World Bank Kenya Accountable Devolution Program 2030 development program includes several large- (KADP) is a program of technical assistance in support scale investments such as the Lamu Port South Sudan of Kenya’s devolution of many functions to 47 county Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) corridor, an international governments, operating since 2013. The program spe- airport, large dam projects, a modern abattoir, and oil cifically supports the newly-formed Frontier Counties storage facilities. A recently improved, pan-African high- Development Council (FCDC), led by the governors of way connects Ethiopia to central Kenya through the the counties of Isiolo, Mandera, Marsabit, Wajir, Lamu, town of Isiolo. Ethnicity, pastoralism, land, and devel- Tana River, Garissa, Turkana, West Pokot, and Samburu. opment are each important aspects of the conflict and World Bank activities in these counties include building violence dynamics in the county. capacity for collective action and regional coordination, supporting conflict and violence mitigation and efforts FORMS OF CONFLICT AND to address marginalization, and fostering innovations VIOLENCE IN ISIOLO COUNTY for local economic development. This study contributes to these efforts by examining conflict dynamics and the Resource-based conflicts. These are conflicts focused architecture for peace and security prior to and since on land-based resources, involving pastoralists and the start of the devolution process in Isiolo County. other land users. Recent hotspots include Kom in the The findings are the result of research conducted from subcounty of Merti, where conflict in 2017 between August 2016 to June 2017, including consultations with Samburu, Marsabit, and Borana herders led to at least county-level peace and security actors, focus group dis- 10 deaths; Kinna in the subcounty of Garbatulla, where cussions with community members, and relevant litera- conflict exists between the Borana and Somali; and ture review. Isiolo Holding Ground, where numerous groups have Isiolo County, located in a semiarid region in the experienced conflict. All communities have experienced center of Kenya, covers an area of about 25,700 square being both the perpetrator and victim of cattle raids. kilometers (KNBS 2017). Bordering eight other coun- Intercounty border conflicts. These types of con- ties, it has been of strategic importance as the “gate- flicts can be political or intercommunal. For example, way to the north” since colonial times. An estimated a fierce border dispute between the counties of Isiolo 192,000 people reside in its three subcounties—Isiolo, and Meru has resulted in ongoing intercommunal Merti, and Garbatulla—mostly comprising pastoralists, conflict, theft of livestock theft, looting of shops, and including the majority Borana, Sakuye, Somali, Turkana, some killings, leading to the deployment of the army. and Samburu, in addition to the agro-pastoralist Meru. Intercommunal-level border conflicts also exist among Seasonal migration in and out of and within the county several other neighboring counties. is common. The county holds most of its land in trust Ethnopolitical conflicts. Ethnopolitical differences as community land, which its various occupants share. have led to violent clashes between communities, par- Isiolo remains underdeveloped, but the Kenya Vision ticularly in the case of the border conflict between the v counties of Isiolo and Meru. Conflicts heighten during Cultural factors . A dependence on livestock, tradi- election periods when candidates need alliances to gain tions of bride price, rites of passage, and revenge con- a majority. tribute to cattle raids; conversely, there are also cultural Violent extremism . Radicalization and/or recruit- restraints on violence and mechanisms for peace. ment into violent extremism is an important aspect of Proliferation of small arms . Firearms from both the conflict in Isiolo county. This study identified anec- legal and illicit sources are abundant in Isiolo County—a dotal evidence of 50 youths said to have disappeared, hub for the small arms trade from Kenya’s northern possibly for training in Somalia. neighbors. Traders often transport