From ICRC NEWS 38
The Pokot and Marakwet people from the
villages of Kolowa and Tot (north-west of Nairobi) are slowly returning
to their homes. The trek down from the Cherangani escarpment, where both
clans had sought refuge since fighting erupted between them in October
1999, began about two months ago after meetings were held between community
leaders and a Red Cross operation was launched to supply villagers with
food and drinking water.
"This is a conflict over access to resources", says Alfred Petters, an engineer for the American Red Cross. "It is exacerbated by the drought presently affecting large parts of Kenya, a country that hasn't received adequate rains for the last two years". The drought has had a particularly severe effect on pastoral communities such as the Pokot and the Marakwet, who desperately need to find grazing pastures for their cattle to replace the barren land they are sharing.
Clashes between the Marakwet and Pokot communities quickly grew more violent when the fighters stopped using traditional weapons, such as spears and arrows, in favour of modern automatic firearms. Several people, including women and children, were killed and large numbers of people fled their villages. In some cases they took their cattle with them, but the animals proved unable to adapt to the new environment on the escarpment and many died.
The ICRC project to help the victims, which is financed and implemented by the American Red Cross, aims to bring about the conditions necessary for these displaced people to return to their villages. The first step was to distribute maize seed to those living on the escarpment. The maize, which has now been harvested, is being consumed while a sorghum crop grows in the abandoned villages in the valley. In order for the sorghum to grow and for the population to have access to drinking water during the drought, several water projects (hand-dug wells, desilting of dams, etc.) have been carried out in the villagers' absence.
Schoolgrounds were used during the fighting as secure places for the cattle to graze. However, this resulted in damage to the schools. Work has now been carried out to repair and upgrade the facilities, including installation of functional latrines and fences to keep the cattle out. Several schools have also been equipped with rainwater catchment systems and pupils are being served a meal a day. Of the 780 children in the village of Tot, 300 have returned to school so far. And in Kolowa, the market is gradually returning to its colourful, busy routine.
Restoring access to food and water has served to attenuate the causes of conflict and enabled both communities to seek lasting solutions. They have agreed to improve control over their youths and, in the event of new tensions, meet before these have a chance to escalate.
Further information: Michael Kleiner, ICRC Nairobi, tel. ++254 2 728 387