The Australian High Commission in Nairobi will join development partners, churches and NGOs to fight against cattle rustling in the Kerio Valley.
High Commissioner Luke Williams said he was impressed by the efforts of the Pokot, Turkana and Marakwet (Potuma) women’s initiative to restore peace and order in the Kerio Valley. Baringo is included.
Speaking in Eldoret when he closed a two-day peace seminar for women on Monday, Williams assured them of Australian support.
He said security was a collective responsibility and everyone must take part to get rid of a few criminals amongst us.
He said it was encouraging women who bear the brunt of the conflicts are taking the lead in the search for peace.
“When I was approached, I could not hesitate to assist in ensuring there was lasting peace in the volatile area," Williams said.
"It's women who are key to solving issues around conflicts in the Kerio Valley. We will assist with what we have to ensure the success of this initiative for the sake of peace and stability," Williams said.
Kilimo said women were afraid that in the near future, there would be no need for early childhood schools in the Kerio Valley. They said there will be no children as their men and sons are being murdered every day due to cattle rustling.
“As mothers, we will go up to where the warriors, most of them youths, are holed up and implore them to stop the killings.
"It is unfortunate relatives are killing each other considering that the Pokot intermarry with the Marakwet, the Marakwet intermarry with the Turkana and the Turkana intermarry with the Pokot,” Kilimo said,
The former Marakwet East MP who has devoted her career to peace said although peace meetings have been held to restore peaceful coexistence in the Kerio Valley, not much has been achieved.
Fighters and rustlers don't go to peace meetings.
“Most of the peace meetings are attended by leaders and elders, but the youths who are the alleged culprit never show up, hence, nothing much is achieved,” she said.
She said many children have been orphaned and women widowed in the cattle-rustling wars.
“As women, today we are saying it’s enough, we might miss a whole generation and may be wiped out because of lack of peace in the region.”
Governor Tolgos said it’s through teamwork and unity among counties along the Kerio Valley that lawlessness can be tackled.
He said the national and county governments will work closely with the development partners in the search for peace.
“I commend the Australian ambassador and the department of gender for using women through Potuma in preaching peaceful coexistence among along the Kerio Valley," Tolgos said.
Marakwet deputy county commissioner Bernard Odino said security agencies were doing their best to restore law and order in the Kerio Valley.
Potuma chairperson Roselyn Lokorkilim from West Pokot said the lawlessness along the Kerio valley has led to loss of hundreds of lives and property.
"We have decided as women from the affected communities to come together and look for lasting solutions to the problem. We are suffering. Enough is enough," Lokorkilim said.
They said women can deploy their knowledge, experience, skills and social networks to prevent conflict and build peace.
Kilimo said women are integral stakeholders in conflict prevention and resolution.
“We will use women in the search for peace along the Kerio Valley because they are always the most affected during conflicts,” Kilimo said.
She homegrown solutions are necessary so community members can ventilate their issues openly and seek amicable solutions.
“Without women's active participation. policies and programmes to prevent armed conflict, build sustainable peace, and post-conflict reconstruction will not succeed," Kilimo said.
She said women are easy to mobilise and have potential to influence men to abandon violence.
“Women have prevented conflicts by negotiating with warring parties to embrace peace because it’s they and children who suffer most," Kilimo said.
Kilimo said it was only the residents along the Kerio Valley could end insecurity, not outsiders.
Bishop Richard Kipsoi of the African Inland Church in Elgeyo Marakwet region called for teamwork and unity in fighting insecurity.
He said religious leaders were committed to work closely with NGOs and the government.
Bishop Kipsoi from Elgeyo Marakwet called on all women to continuously keep their husbands in check, by discouraging them from engaging in the conflict.
Doreen Lomeri, a Turkana from Kapedo who is married among the Pokot in Chemolingot said, "as a woman, I am deeply hurting for our young men.
"Our children from Pokot and Turkana are killing each other; every day we wake up to deaths either of a family member or a neighbour.
"We are pleading with our children to stop fighting and embrace peace and unity."
She urged the government to build a school at the border of Pokot and Turkana, as a way of fostering peace among the two communities. She said this will help young children learn how to coexist and care for each other.
Rohina Pyatich, a Pokot married in Marakwet, said she has not seen her Pokot family in a long time, since she does not dare dare travel through the dangerous valley.
“The markets have been closed and if my loved one is sick or even dying of hunger, there is no way I can be of any help,"Pyatich said.
"I am stuck here in Marakwet. I cannot travel, knowing what awaits me along he road in Kerio Valley."
(Edited by V.Graham)
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