ETHIOPIA: Pastoral elders give firsthand accounts of their suffering

Photo: Léa-Lisa Westerhoff/IRINKjell Magne Bondevik (right), the UN humanitarian special envoy for the Horn of Africa, addresses the elders FENTALLE, 2 May 2006 (IRIN) -  Under the shade of acacia trees, 100 elders from pastoral communities in Ethiopia asked United Nations Special Humanitarian Envoy Kjell Magne Bondevik to help find lasting solutions to cope with the prevailing regional drought and preserve their way of life.The traditional meeting, which was held at the Kereyu Gada village, some 190 km south of the capital, Addis Ababa, was part of the envoy's five-nation mission to the drought-plagued countries of the Horn of...

Read more »

HORN OF AFRICA: Pastoralists address common issues

Photo: Walter EggenbergerThe meeting brought together pastoralists from 19 countries. YABELLO, 26 July 2006 (IRIN) -  In southern Ethiopia, 300 pastoralist leaders representing 19 countries and 60 different groups met in July to share experiences and address their common problems: conflict, low productivity, limited market access and the development of structures to support their way of life. "We pastoralists are increasingly becoming tenants in our lands," said Boru Guyo, representing the Borana-Saku pastoral community from Marsabit district in northern Kenya. "We have lost our livestock and therefore our livelihood and as a result...

Read more »

KENYA: Pokot, Samburu conflict displaces thousands

Photo: John Nyaga/IRINSamburu herdsmen in northern Kenya. ISIOLO, 17 October 2006 (IRIN) -  Heavily pregnant and with a bullet lodged in her leg, Mary Lenayasa hitched, ran and trekked for two days to reach a church at a remote centre hosting thousands of displaced families in Samburu District, northern Kenya.Lenayasa managed to escape death during an attack by bandits in which six people, including her husband, were killed a month ago, forcing her to flee."I lost everything - my husband, all our livestock and good neighbours," she said, cradling a newborn boy, whom she delivered a day after arriving at the Sugutamarmar Church compound...

Read more »

ETHIOPIA-KENYA: Gov't orders Ethiopian asylum-seekers to leave

Photo: IRIN ISIOLO, 21 February 2007 (IRIN) -  Ethiopian asylum-seekers, who have been camped near the Kenyan border town of Moyale, have urged the government to rescind an order forcing them to return to Ethiopia, saying they feared for their safety.At least 1,000 people fled their homes along the Kenya-Ethiopia border and headed towards Moyale after a wave of violent conflict that left at least 11 people dead and scores injured on 9 February. Ever since they arrived, the 1,010 asylum-seekers have been camped in the open in Funyanyatta and Kinisa area, without assistance."I have never been a refugee before," said Hadija Diba, who...

Read more »

KENYA: Defying orders to surrender illegal guns

Photo: Mike Pflanz/IRINConditions in northern Kenya are harsh, with drought a common feature MARSABIT, 22 March 2007 (IRIN) -  The severe drought in northern Kenya last year and cattle rustling have wiped out more than half of Halake Wario's livestock, but failed to dampen his determination to remain a pastoralist. "Livestock keeping is part of my Borana tradition but it is risky and tough," Wario told IRIN in Marsabit district. "Many people have been killed in the past and livestock stolen, [leaving] many families poor, but I wish the same lifestyle for my children." Most of the deaths occurred when raiders...

Read more »

Blog: Pastoralists, in their own words…

Photo: Jane Some/IRINView of a semi-arid landscape in Isiolo, eastern Kenya. July 2007. Livestock keeping is the main activity in arid and semi-arid areas, which are mostly inhabited by pastoralists. NAIROBI, 6 August 2008 (IRIN) -  OCHA Pastoralist Voices report for July/August 2008 carries pastoralist views on the impact of protracted drought, and rising food and fuel prices in East Africa. Extracts below:Drought“In my 80 years living as a pastoralist it has never been like this. The rainfall pattern has been unpredictable and there is a migration of pastoralists from this community to the urban centres of Nairobi, Uganda...

Read more »

KENYA: Hundreds displaced in “drought” clashes

Photo: John Nyaga/IRINThe drought in northern Kenya has led to death and displacement as herders fight over grazing land and wate ISIOLO, 18 September 2008 (IRIN) -  At least six people have been killed and hundreds displaced following days of fighting over water and pasture along the Isiolo and Samburu district border as drought-related conflict escalated in northern Kenya."We have so far managed to find six bodies but still suspect that more bodies might be lying in the bush," Marius Tum, a senior police superintendent in Isiolo, told IRIN. The bodies were riddled with bullets."More attacks were reported last night ... the animals...

Read more »

KENYA: Clashes leave nine dead, several injured

Photo: John Nyaga/IRINSamburu herders and a cow killed by drought, which is fuelling tensions in the area (file photo) ISIOLO, 5 June 2009 (IRIN) -  At least nine people have been reported dead and several injured following a livestock raid and clashes between communities along the northern Isiolo-Samburu district border. Tension remains high in the area, with ongoing fighting, according to the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS)."The dead include three police officers, five civilians and a police reservist," Nelly Muluka, KRCS public relations and communications officer, told IRIN. "Eleven policemen who suffered soft tissue injuries...

Read more »

KENYA: Resource battle kills 20 in north

Photo: Noor Ali/IRINA pastoralist's home on the outskirts of Isiolo town: Tensions over water and pasture during a drought in the area led to rioting in Isiolo town on 18 July (file photo) ISIOLO, 23 July 2009 (IRIN) -  Large numbers of security forces have been deployed to a town in northern Kenya after 20 people died in July alone during clashes.Tensions over water and pasture during a drought in the surrounding arid rangelands unusually spilled over into extensive rioting in the town of Isiolo on 18 July.Politically exploited ethnicity plays a part, observers say, as four ethnic groups have made two, possible temporary, rival...

Read more »

In Brief: Hundreds flee attack in east Kenyan town

Photo: Noor Ali/IRINMohammed Barre recovers at the Isiolo District Hospital after being injured during a raid at the Kisima area of Gambella Location, Isiolo ISIOLO, 17 November 2009 (IRIN) -  Hundreds of people have fled their homes in Isiolo, eastern Kenya, following an attack by armed men that left 11 people dead in Kisima locality, the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) said."More than 100 Turkana [families] have left their homes since [15 November]," Gitonga Mugambi, the KRCS coordinator in Isiolo, said. "They are moving to the Ngaremara area [about 30km from Isiolo town], which they believe is safe."Affected communities include...

Read more »

KENYA: Voices of peace in a land of conflict

Photo: Noor Ali/IRINMorans at one of the peace meetings SAMBURU/ISIOLO, 24 September 2010 (IRIN) -  In an effort to stem the endemic violent banditry and cattle-rustling that plagues pastoralist areas in northern Kenya, professionals and community leaders from various ethnic groups have been criss-crossing the region in “peace caravans”.IRIN hitched a ride with one such caravan, which held meetings bringing together members of the Samburu, Rendile, Borana, Gabra, Turkana, Pokot, Somali and Meru communities.“I get sad that the only reports from my Samburu community and our neighbours are all about killings and deaths,” said one member,...

Read more »

ETHIOPIA-KENYA: Rebel group wreaks havoc in northeast Kenya

Photo: Siegfried Modola/IRIN Armed rebels are a constant source of fear for civilians in northeast Kenya (file photo) MOYALE, 23 December 2010 (IRIN) -  The presence of an Ethiopian rebel group in northern Kenya, coupled with operations by security forces from both countries, has caused numerous casualties and displacement among local residents, who also complain of arbitrary arrests."They are a menace," Moyale District Commissioner David Rotich said of the secessionist Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), which first rose up against Ethiopian authorities three decades ago."They pose a major threat to security and development and are...

Read more »

KENYA: Livestock dying as drought deepens

Photo: Melvin Chibole/ActionAidAcoording to a recent UN assessment, the drought ravaging East Africa has left eight million needing food aid ISIOLO/MANDERA, 6 April 2011 (IRIN) - Thousands more heads of livestock have died in Kenya’s arid Northeastern province as La Niña drought conditions worsen and water shortages become more acute.  Drought monitoring and assessment reports indicate that the hardest-hit areas are Marsabit, Moyale and Mandera. Livestock farmers in the three regions have lost more than 17,000 animals since January, according to officials from the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) and the government’s...

Read more »

ETHIOPIA: Help "trickling in” for millions needing food aid

ADDIS ABABA, 6 May 2011 (IRIN)  - The Ethiopian government has started receiving food and non-food aid for hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people in the country's southern and south-eastern lowlands after an appeal in April, Agriculture Minister Mitiku Kassa told IRIN."Based on their interests, donors' reactions to our latest appeal varies; we have received cash for non-food requirements while food is being donated in kind for the food needs," Mitiku said. "We had carried over from 2010 so now we are doing an overall assessment on what the donors' response has been and to know where we stand after the latest response."The Ethiopian...

Read more »

Cattle-rustling and the politics of business in Kenya

Photo: Gwenn Dubourthoumieu/IRINCattle rustling in Kenya’s Turkana district has become big business as demand for meat increases NAIROBI, 27 March 2014 (IRIN) -  Cattle raiding in Kenya is often viewed in the legitimizing context of tradition, climate change and resource conflict, but increasingly it has much more to do with organized crime meeting a rising demand for meat, and political violence resulting from a new devolutionary constitution. The human cost of raids is immense: hundreds are killed every year and many thousands forcibly displaced. Two sources within the Anti-Stock Theft Unit, a division of the Kenya police charged...

Read more »