Women-led organisations in Kitui and Garissa counties have stepped up peace-building efforts to end recurrent hostilities that have claimed lives flowing fatal conflicts between camel herders and farmers.
Patricia Mutemi, director of Kitui Women for Peace and Security, said the initiative also targets communities in Tana River County, which borders Kitui to the east.
“We are seeking gender-sensitive solutions to frequent clashes arising from misunderstandings over pasture. These often involve camel herders from Garissa who cross into Kitui to graze their animals,” Mutemi said.
In a renewed effort to address the deadly disputes, her organisation, in collaboration with the Garissa County Women Movement, organised a stakeholders’ peace dialogue forum in Madogo, Tana River County, last Friday.
Mutemi said women and children bore the greatest burden of the violence that erupts when herders from Garissa and Tana River counties cross into Kitui in search of pasture.
She said the dialogue forum involving representatives of conflict-affected communities and national and county government officials had proposed peaceful ways of preventing further clashes.
“Our ultimate goal is to see peace and harmony prevail in our region, especially as the country approaches next year’s general election. We want to see an end to these senseless killings,” she said.
Mutemi urged residents to embrace peaceful coexistence in their businesses, in their farms, grazing fields, workplaces and event at school.
“These places must be havens of peace, especially as we approach the general election in less than a year. Peace is key,” she added.
Bangale deputy county commissioner,Elijah Omoyo, who represented the Tana River county commissioner at the meeting, acknowledged that clashes along the Kitui–Tana River border had occasionally resulted in loss of life.
“When camels stray into farmers’ fields in Kitui, some farmers retaliate by shooting the animals with bows and arrows. The herders, some of whom possess illegal firearms, then open fire, leading to senseless deaths,” he said.
Omoyo urged residents of the three counties to embrace good neighbourliness and prioritise dialogue whenever disputes over pasture arise.
“We must recognise that we are all Kenyans and neighbours. We have to live peacefully and seek dialogue whenever disputes arise. There is no need to kill one another,” he said.
He added that security operations had been conducted to recover illegally held firearms from camel herders. He pledged that efforts would be intensified to ensure all illegally held guns were confiscated by early 2027.
Mwingi Central deputy county commissioner, Catherine Njoroge, who represented the Kitui county commissioner, commended the women-led initiative to foster peaceful coexistence among communities in Kitui, Garissa and Tana River counties.
“These women-led peace dialogue forums are essential in sustaining the prevailing peace. They should continue identifying and addressing potential triggers of conflict before they escalate into violence,” Njoroge said.
Ends
