Tension is high in Chartende, Bura constituency, following the killing of two herders yesterday morning, when rival communities fought over a watering point.
It all started on Saturday morning when herders from a neighbouring county, who had moved to the area in search of water and pasture for their livestock, demanded to water their animals at the watering point.
Area MCA Harum Hassan said the herders told off their counterparts, claiming that water is God-given and they had the right to water their animals without seeking permission.
The local herders fought using sticks and other crude weapons and overpowered the intruders. On sensing defeat, the visiting herders retreated to their grazing field and came back armed. They started shooting indiscriminately, killing herder Sambul Hassan, 31.
Residents retaliated and killed one of the attackers, whose identity could not be immediately established, because they fled with the body.
Speaking to the press in Madogo, area MP Ali Wario urged the pastoralist communities to share pasture and water. He said the Northern part of his constituency did not receive enough rain and herders in the area have moved to the South to look for water and pasture. “As pastoralists, we should learn to share the available resources. Today you are endowed, but you don’t know what will happen tomorrow. That’s why you should allow your neighbours to graze and water their animals here,” Wario said.
He thanked security agencies for moving with speed to end the fight between the two groups.
“The situation could have been bloodier if the security agencies did not arrive on time,” Wario said.
Elders from both communities met last night to try and reconcile their people.
Last month, two herders were assaulted by goons from a rival community in Chartende.
Mohamed Mahat and Abdullahi Salat were sleeping when about 25 men stormed their homestead. They drove away 10 cows.
Mahat sustained deep cuts to the head and back. The men ambushed them at midnight.
The attack was prompted by two elders who claimed to be the legitimate inhabitants of the land. They visited the homestead in the morning and asked the herders to leave.
“True to their word, after a few hours they made good their threats by ambushing us,” Mahat said. Mahat urged the police to intervene and stop the attacks.
