Imagine a boy as young as four or five years old being sent away from his parents' house and forced to go out there and fend for themselves.
This, according to an administrator in Baringo, is the life of Pokot boys.
Barpello location senior chief Irene Koskei attributes to boy child neglect the endless cases of banditry and cattle rustling happening in Tiaty, Baringo county.
"The hard life imposed on the male child in Pokot land for many years is also to blame for the rooted illiteracy, Female Genital Mutilation and early marriages," she said.
Koskei said girls are a bit lucky as they get to enjoy parental protection up to when they are about 12 years, especially from their mothers, and are even sometimes given the chance to go to school. “But immediately they become teenagers, they are expected to undergo FGM before they are married off.”
Their male counterparts are however not as lucky as they are forced to go to the bushes to look after livestock.
“Culturally the Pokot Manyatta or family house has little space to accommodate only the father, the mother and the girls while the boys are called ‘morans’ and so they have no place at home,” Koskei said.
She spoke during an integrated peace stakeholders meeting at Kampi ya Samaki hotel, Baringo North Last week on Friday.
The meeting was graced by the County commissioner Abdirisak Jaldesa and organised by the National Church Council of Kenya (NCCK).
Present were Tiaty West Deputy County Commissioner Jackton Orieny and his East Pokot counterpart Josiah Odongo, NCCK’s Anglican Church of Kenya bishop Musa Kamuren, 20 local chiefs and administration officers.
Koskei said the neglected boys eventually end up living with the hardened and older herders grazing animals in the bushes.
“Living out there is not easy, this is where they learn the survival tactics and they finally end up using arrows and illegal guns at the age of 8 years and learn how to kill people and steal animals,” she said.
Again in the bushes, the illiterate minors learn how go about stealing livestock from "bunyot" or the "enemy" that is the neighbouring community so they can create themselves wealth in preparation for early marriage.
“As leaders, let us get to learn how banditry is being nurtured down here in our rural villages and not rush to conclusions or create community wars over who stole from who,” Koskei said.
The administrator said as pokot chiefs, they have always been in the forefront in going round to identify the notorious bandits and forwarding their names to the authorities, “but we always face life threats some even plotting to kill us for trying to obstruct their culture.”
Koskei said the only way to change the mindset of a pokot boy child from the banditry culture is by first first showing them love and care and also providing them with quality education.
“The illiteracy and deep rooted culture in Pokot land is not different from other African communities, but the community has to learn to let go of the harmful culture and only embrace the good,” she said.
The chief said while undergoing rite of passage into adults, the Pokot boys seem to be told strictly to marry circumcised girls.
She said the boys also seem to learn from the elders that it is okay to mistreat women and even to marry as many of them as possible.
Culturally, pokot dowry for a circumcised girl goes for at least 10 cows, 20 goats or three camels, which many warriors may not afford.
The chief said men should also learn to be responsible and teach the teenage boys good morals in their initiation ceremonies.
“It is our task as leaders and elders to put our efforts together and deal with the real issue here instead of turning on our neighbours shifting blame,” she said.
She said the ratio of boys who have gone to school and the illiterate is too big, adding that it is time for the community to embrace education.
Jaldesa echoed Koskei’s sentiments saying one of the most critical ways to rehabilitate the pokot child especially the boys, is to mobilise and take them to school.
“Confronting and killing them is actually not the solution, basic education always serves as an equaliser,” Jaldesa said.
He cited high illiteracy level in Tiaty which currently stands at 70 per cent, saying the government is committed to curbing banditry and cattle rustling, “after which all parents will be convinced to take their children to school.”
“As government we shall have to be a bit tactful on this by providing all the necessary facilities like structures and meals in public schools in order to attract and retain the children,” Jaldesa said.
He called on the government, religions leaders and partners to shift focus on improving the lives of the people of Tiaty in bid to fight insecurity.
-Edited by SKanyara
