15 Killed in Fight Over Water, Land - Kenya

[Paragon]

The East African Standard (Nairobi)

January 24, 2005

Posted to the web January 24, 2005

 

Nairobi

 

The death toll from Saturday's fighting over water and pasture in Naivasha's Mai Mahiu area stood at 15 yesterday and was believed to be rising.

 

And 12 people, among them three children, were admitted to Kijabe Hospital and Mai Mahiu Health Centre with serious injuries suffered during the attacks.

 

But independent sources put the number of injured at 25, adding that some had not been taken for treatment.

 

One person, who had arrows lodged in his body, was undergoing operation at the Naivasha Sub-District Hospital. Doctors said they hoped the arrows were not poisoned.

 

The Kijabe and Naivasha hospitals and the Mai Mahiu Health Centre were a hive of activity as grieving relatives and friends searched for their injured and missing kin.

 

An estimated 40 homes were burnt in the skirmishes and hundreds of livestock stolen and others maimed.

 

And seven suspects were arrested in connection with the killings as a contingent of administration and regular police patrolled the affected areas.

 

But tension remained high even as the government deployed security personnel to pursue those involved in the fighting.

 

The trouble spot in Mai Mahiu is about 80 Kilometers South West of Nairobi and nearly 35 kilometres North East of Naivasha.

 

The clashes erupted after the pastoralists destroyed water pipes and disconnected electricity from the home of a former Limuru councillor, Mr Ndung'u Njenga.

 

Angered by the move, his neighbours and supporters beat up the local Chief, Mr Samuel Kiberegenye, and set his vehicle on fire, accusing him of colluding with his kinsmen to terrorise their neighbours.

 

The angered residents said the chief was to blame for the escalating cattle rustling in the area over the last four months. In retaliation, the pastoralists attacked anybody from the farming communities, resulting in the grisly murder that left residents in shock and fear.

 

Hundreds of people have fled their homes for fear of revenge attacks.

 

Most of the families have camped at the Mai Mahiu trading centre, but others have moved as far away as Naivasha town.

 

The situation threatened to escalate as houses were burnt in Kigecha, Nyakinyua, Kirima and Satellite by rampaging mobs.

 

Residents, who have fled their homes for fear of further attacks, said there were more uncollected bodies in the villages.

 

The most affected areas were Kigecha, Satellite and Karima.

 

Police took eight bodies to the Naivasha sub-District Hospital mortuary, but a senior police officer at the Rift Valley Provincial Police headquarters in Nakuru, said a total of 13 people had been killed.

 

But sources on both sides told The Standard there were many people who were still missing and that some of the dead and injured had not been taken away from the villages.

 

The bone of contention is the use of River Ewaso Kedong', whose volume of water has reduced drastically because of the current drought.

 

The Maasai, who live downstream, claim their neighbours upstream are using the river water for irrigation, thereby complicating the drought situation for themselves and their animals.

 

Angry and displaced villagers who converged at the trading centre charged that the police had been slow to act and contain the situation.

 

It was a grotesque scene at the centre where three men from the Maasai community were pulled out of a Narok-bound matatu and met a cruel death in the hands of the mob.

 

The fighting paralysed commuter services on the busy Mai Mahiu/Narok road that leads to the world-famous Maasai Mara Game Reserve.

 

In retaliation, the Maasai speared to death a Kikuyu man near Karima Primary School.

 

The usually busy centre was turned into a ghost town as local business people, fearing further attacks, closed their shops early.

 

Area police boss, Simon Kiragu, made frantic efforts to get reinforcements from other areas as his officers appeared overwhelmed by the situation.

 

Area MP Jane Kihara accused politicians from outside the area of stoking the fire by issuing inflammatory statements.

 

A furious Kihara asked the Government to send more police officers to the area and arrest perpetrators of the violence who, she said, are well known.

 

"The outsiders have on a number of occasion held meetings in my constituency and they should be investigated and arrested as they are to blame for the violence," she said.

 

And Leader of the Official Opposition, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, has asked the Government to immediately restore peace in Mai Mahiu.

 

Uhuru said it was sad to see brothers and sisters who have been living in peace suddenly turn violent and start killing each because of a misunderstanding over the use of a water resource.

 

"I am appealing to the communities to approach the problem with restraint and allow reason to prevail. You must uphold peace and calm, as the problem is being resolved. Maiming and killing each other will only aggravate the problem," said Uhuru in a statement.

 

Roads minister Raila Odinga called for an end to the fighting, saying security is paramount if people have to produce wealth and earn a decent living.

 

The conflict in Mai Mahiu has been simmering for some time, with the two communities differing mostly over pasture, grazing rights, water and politics.

 

Last month, leaflets calling on members of one community to vacate the area for allegedly seeking to dominate others were distributed in Naivasha town and its environs.

 

Area leaders accuse the Provincial Administration of fanning the clashes by failing to take action even after being informed of the rising hostilities.

 

"We called on the Nakuru District Commissioner, Mr James Mwaura, last week during a leaders meeting to send more police but he dismissed our concern as petty and warned us against introducing trivial issues in the meeting," local leader David Mwangi said.

 

In Trans Mara, displaced victims of clashes between Maasai and Kipsigis at the Emarti area yesterday asked the Government to provide them with relief food and other necessities.

 

And the leaders asked the Government to return the General Service Unit personnel it had withdrawn on Saturday, saying they feared full-scale fighting would erupt again.

 

The victims said they lost everything in the clashes, which left more than three people dead and needed assistance

 

until they can get on their feet again.

 

Speaking in Emarti area where they have camped, the victims also said they feared an imminent outbreak of diseases because of overcrowding in makeshift camps.

 

Area councillor, Naisheki Kimojino, said the Government should provide the victims with food, medicine, mosquito nets and all other necessities. He said they had not received assistance from Government since they were displaced.

 

In Kedong area where the dispute over Mai Mahiu water started, women who spent the night at the centre arrived to collect some of their belongings and to ferry the injured to hospital.

 

Security officers led by Provincial Administration officials from the Rift Valley, held a meeting with Maasai leaders at Suswa about getting the morans to withdraw from Mt Longonot.

 

Police were forced to fire in the air when farmers started hurling stones at some of the administrators. Women and youth scampered for safety as the officers shielded some people, mainly Maasai, who had attended an earlier meeting at Mai Mahiu trading centre.

 

Nakuru District Commissioner, Mr James Mwaura, his Narok counterpart, Mr John Egessa, and District Officers from Kajiado District attended the two meetings.

 

Residents feared the more than 100 morans who are suspected to have trekked from the neighbouring districts of Narok and Kajiado had gathered at Mt Longonot were planning an attack at nightfall.

 

"We have been told that some of your youth have moved to the mountain and it is fair if you recall them back to the homes," the Narok DC said.

 

Speaking to the Maasai in Suswa, Egessa said security officers turned back many morans who were heading to Kedong from Narok on Saturday night apparently to go and fight.

 

Mwaura said the Government had started investigations into the cause of the fighting.

 

An elder, Mr Gishano ole Simba, said 10 elders from Nakuru, Narok and Kajiado should come together as soon as possible to solve the problem before more people are killed.

 

"We want them to return our animals for peace to prevail in this area," he said amid cheers from the pastoralists.