Nyanza Regional Commissioner Flora Mworoa in her office/HANDOUTNyanza regional commissioner Florah Mworoa has urged the two factions of Kuria clans to desist from violence and embrace peace.
She said it is only through community dialogue, integration and proper security coordination that a community can live in harmony.
Mworoa spoke during a security baraza that brought together security heads from Migori County at Biasumui Primary School in Nyabasi West ward, Kuria East subcounty.
The meeting came at a time when the two factions of the Bwirege and Nyabasi clans have been fighting over cattle theft, accusing each other of stealing cattle and smuggling them across the borders of Transmara, Narok county, and Tanzania.
The clash has left one person dead and interrupted school activities, as well as the social and economic activities in the area.
Biasumui Primary School head of institution Daniel Mahiri said the clashes forced Grade 6 and 9 candidates to sit for their national examination at the neighbouring Nyamangogwi Primary School, four kilometres away.
He said the pain of undergoing and experiencing violence firsthand may have physiological effects on the candidates and may affect their final examination outcome.
The school was closed indefinitely, leaving grades 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8 with unfinished exams due to the escalating security tension in the ward.
Mahiri, however, urged the security authorities to provide adequate security to allow teachers to return to the school and administer the exams before the final submission deadline of December 1.
“I am urging my teachers to return to the school to enable our learners to complete their exams to ensure their progression next year,” he said.
Residents of Biasumui have also urged Mworoa and the security personnel in Migori to move with speed and arrest those causing havoc, as well as those stealing, for normalcy to return.
Resident Kechoko Kibiriti said it is high time for the security agencies and the local administration to find a solution for the insecurity to ensure lasting peace.
He said they would not allow a few individuals involved in the cattle theft syndicate from both communities to jeopardise the peace, love and unity that residents have enjoyed for years.
“We cannot farm, do business or even attend to our sick in the hospital for fear of being attacked,” Kibiriti said.
Resident Jane Boge said they would be forced to ask the government to compensate them for the lost animals, adding it is the work of the security agencies to protect their lives and property.
What started as theft of one cattle in January this year, developed into a large-scale syndicate of organised crime between the two communities.
Migori County Commissioner Kisilu Mutua assured residents that the National Government Administrative Officers would work closely with residents to identify and arrest those propagating security threats, those involved in cattle theft and illegal smuggling, to restore sanity.
Mutua urged residents with illegal firearms to surrender them before the security operation starts.
