German Physics Nobel Prize winner and developer of the theory of relativity, Albert Einstein, said, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
Theft, maiming and killing are no strange occurrences in communities in the eastern parts of Turkana, East Pokot in Baringo and Elgeyo Marakwet. The attackers who kill in the name of stealing livestock have become braver to the extent that they are no longer afraid of law enforcers.
On the afternoon of Sunday, September 25, 2022, livestock bandits at Namariat near Kakiteitei village in Kapedo-Napeitom ward in Turkana county ambushed and killed seven General Service Unit officers and their driver. The daring bandits went ahead and attacked a peace caravan in the same area killing Napeitom senior chief Gilbert Lomukuny and peace crusader Mary Kanyaman.
This is inhuman, it must be stopped at all costs. Something more strategic must be done to mitigate the volatility.
A four-pronged approach can be deployed to address this vexing and barbaric practice of livestock theft: Structured dialogue; Sustained education; Political support and goodwill; and Alternative development.
Structured dialogue in such a volatile environment will work in many ways. This needs the involvement of both the national and county governments with well-planned resource allocation for mediation, persuasion and well-nurtured community relations.
The attackers come from within these communities. They are very well known by residents of their respective communities. Therefore the involvement of key leaders from these neighbourhoods will do great in creating harmony and development for posterity.
The use of opinion leaders – community elders/leaders, elected leaders and local administration – from all feuding communities will offer a more sustainable positive peace. Vicious security operations, violent crackdowns, hard talking and arms mop up and re-arming communities and Kenya Police Reservists have failed in the past.
Once the leaders come together with progressive political goodwill and support the positive peace trickle effect will automatically be felt within communities. This strategy requires a very well-structured execution.
For now, security operation is necessary to restore tranquillity and confidence, and create some sense of security within the communities. The steps to follow should be first, setting up community dialogue groups comprising political, local and community opinion leaders. Out of this strategy, the groups should set out to the next stage, with both local and national government-sustained education programmes.
Structured education among communities financed by both local and national governments and supported by religious formations should among other things provide boarding school facilities to admit all school-going children from primary to secondary schools.
For the religious formations, inculcating the culture of fear of God and the need for peace as is in Matthew 5:9 (Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God). That kind of faith blended into education will be a game changer.
This will need time. Education in such facilities may look expensive from the surface value but in the long run, they will bear fruit. The expense cannot be compared with the loss of human lives that has been experienced in the area. More than 30 GSU officers have lost their lives in the last eight years in and around the Suguta-Kapedo corridor in similar circumstances.
The structured education programmes should be sustained for at least 10 years to guarantee sufficient social and mindset change. The change will also ensure that the beneficiaries will look beyond livestock rustling.
Education mixed with belief in God will also give the communities hope and the necessary exposure beyond the local environment and exposure for more economic opportunities. Change of mindset and rationalism would be the best window to ensnare these communities from the cyclic violence.
Top-to-bottom political support and goodwill is the other clear avenue of mobilising the community in harmonious co-existence. These feuding communities are in a political location that produces elected leaders who meet the people and ask for votes.
In the same way political leaders, from members of county assemblies to the governors, persuade them to vote for them, they should persuade them to embrace peace and harmony for prosperity.
The politicians command overwhelming local support, they speak the languages these communities hear and understand. To bring peace and sustainable development in these areas they must take the leading role and undertake to spread peace and progressive lifestyles. Political support and goodwill are key components of peace.
The devolved functions guarantee resources to the grassroots. The resources should be used to bring Alternative Development for these communities who only look at livestock rearing as their only source of income if not livelihood. To these communities, livestock is a matter of life and death.
Most of the areas affected by livestock rustling have very fertile soils suitable for farming. With a strategic approach to better utilisation of resources, the local and national governments could start off resizing of livestock in improved breeds for commercial meat and dairy business for farmers, among other activities.
On livestock, the governments could start value add economic activities for farmers. Once well inducted into modern livestock rearing, the communities will see sense in small and manageable herds.
To give these communities attractive options to livestock rearing, the governments could also introduce them to crop farming, which will give them some sense of settlement and land ownership to discourage them from roaming with large herds of cattle in search of pasture.
Alternative development and modern cattle rearing are possible and work. The Kerio Valley Development Authority has succeeded in this and operationalised livestock centres in Nomotio in Saburu, Chemeron in Baringo and Chesongoch in Elgeyo Marakwet. West Pokot and Marsabit counties have succeeded in introducing crop farming as an alternative source of income in parts of those areas.
The Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization has developed advanced technologies that include new drought-tolerant seed and crop varieties, production systems and processing/storage systems to offer an alternative to livestock rearing. The interventions will address food and nutrition security in the arid and semi-arid lands that have been stuck in only one option of uneconomic livestock rearing.
These suggested approaches can be done to avert bloodshed among our communities.
Communications expert, peace and conflict scholar and a certified mediator
