KDF to explosive-riddled Samburu: Do not pick it if you did not drop it

The weather is harsh, about 38 degrees celsius. Armed with boots, jeans and long-sleeved shirts, we are ready for the day's assignment.

We are joining KDF soldiers as they comb Archer's military training area in Samburu for unexploded ordnance (UXOs).

These are explosives such as bombs, shells, missiles and grenades that fail to detonate on impact and pose a risk to locals.

Several people in Kenya have been casualties of the death traps. Some have died, others acquired permanent disabilities after being injured. Some suffer burns, others develop hearing problems. All after unknowingly touching, playing with, carrying or hitting uncollected military ordnances.

We land at the Kalama Airstrip, Samburu, at about 20 minutes to 9am. The day begins with a security briefing, followed by a five-hour walk in the bush. The walk will last for as long as we find some ordnance.

For close to two months, a battalion of soldiers, led by operation commander Brigadier Isaack Muchendu, has endured the heat on the rough terrain, walking through shrubs of acacia and euphoria trees as they look for blind bombs on the 375sq km training area.

Firing at Archer's Post dates way back to the 1970s.

COMBING PROCESS

With a gun on the shoulder, a military water bag tightly tied on the back and the energy to serve, the soldiers start the search every day at 6am, walking for kilometres on end.

On this day, they have started on the last 5sq km. They walk, stop and squat in rhythm.

We are only allowed to walk behind or by their side. About 15km into the walk, a soldier shouts. An explosive has been sighted. They all stop and wait for direction from the operation officer.

The rusted 105mm Smoke calibre comfortably sits under an acacia tree, camouflaged with the dry leaves and the thirsty ground. Weighing about 15kg, the ammunition has a danger area of 400m.

"This means anyone within that radius can die from the explosive," Muchendu said.

We are only allowed to view it from a distance before being escorted to safe ground, about 600m away, as the soldiers prepare to detonate the bomb.

Called 'Operation Ondoa Nanasi', the exercise is meant to eliminate any explosives left behind during army training and to educate residents about what to do if they encounter them.

The theme of the operation is 'Zero casualties from unexploded ordnances', with the motto being, 'Don't pick it if you did not drop it'.

"All military ammunition is designed to explode on impact. Sometimes, however, explosives land on soft grounds and immerse themselves, then resurface during rainy reasons," Muchendu said.

Such are the bombs that detonate, killing unsuspecting locals, mostly children who find and start playing with them.

"Children may go to graze and because they look attractive, they start playing with them, unknowing of the danger they pose," Muchendu said.

Others who find themselves with ordnances are Morans looking for ornaments. "The Morans looks for them and remove the metals to make bangles," Muchendu said, adding that in the process, the bombs may detonate and kill.

People who buy scrap metals also find themselves with the bombs. In 2010, two people died, among them a scrap metal dealer who had collected a bomb in Elsa Ntirim, a village in Isiolo.

The dealer had unknowingly picked the bomb but it exploded before he could sell it.

"It's a very complex scenario," Muchendu said, "and such explosives don't detonate unless they are disturbed. They can stay in the same state for years," he said.

Some of them are eroded, meaning they could have been dropped during the 2nd World War, Muchendu said.

FATALITIES PROMPT ACTION

In December last year, two children were killed by a bomb as they herded goats at Archer's Post.

The two, Ltarijan Lekoloi, nine, and his brother, Ltoruwan Lekoloi, 14, were pupils at Lerata Primary School.

Two more children had perished in November in similar circumstances. That, major general Ayub Matiiri says, is what prompted the operation. Matiiri is the general officer commanding Eastern Command. 

He said the military always tries to clear the areas after every training, but some ordnances are usually unnoticed. "We do our best to comb the areas but sometimes blinds are left," he said.

A former teacher at Lerata Primary School, where the brothers were going to school, said the incident shocked them and it was a big loss to the family, school and even the community.

Peninah Njoki, who currently teaches at Girgir Primary School, welcomed the idea of KDF combing the area. "It is good the military is now doing something to ensure such a thing does not happen again," she said.

Matiiri says by the end of the operation, 99 per cent of such dangers will have been eliminated.

"This is not a one-time exercise. That is why we are creating awareness so when locals find them, they know what to do," he said.

He assured residents that by the time the operation is done, there will be no more casualties from Archer's Post and its boundaries.

AWARENESS CAMPAIGN

Archer's training area was gazetted in October 1977 and became a restricted area exclusively for military training.

Since the area is not fenced, the nomadic communities find themselves grazing within it, and they have experienced the most casualties.

To ensure peaceful coexistence with the locals, KDF cannot fence off the ranch. "The ranch is a traditional grazing area for pastoralists, and fencing it off would create a conflict," Matiiri said.

He said it would also be a very expensive affair to fence the area due to its size.

Dangers of UXOs, Matiiri said, are further aggravated by the local community's lack of awareness of their dangers.

The sensitisation campaign is targeting schools, churches, mosques, marketplaces and even manyattas.

"Women are better placed to warn children against playing with things they don't know, and that's why we are engaging them and even looking for them at their homes," said Muchendu.

When visiting the manyattas, the officers carry a water tanker to distribute water to the women, who in return give them a listening ear.

During a baraza later that afternoon, Matiiri urged locals to join them and work together to ensure no more lives will be lost as a result of the bombs.

"Report to the chief if you see anything unusual. You have a big role to play. Let's mostly sensitise our children since they are the ones who get hit," he said.

He promised KDF will be putting up a project to benefit the locals after they are done with the operation. "We know we owe you since we train here. We will sit down with the wazees to see what we can do for you," he said.

Area acting chief and Archer's Post assistant chief Henry Lenayasa welcomed the idea of KDF giving back to the community.

"We have worked well with them and we even managed to show them where some of the explosives were when the operation started," he said.

He added that they want to start a conversation about compensating those who have been affected.