Time For Africa's Criminal Court

Whether Africa is being targeted by ICC should not be the focus. Focus should be the fact that Africa needs a regional ownership of its crimes and its leaders. Most of the African States are 50 years old or thereabout under self governance, ripe enough for Africa to take charge of its affairs. The jurisdiction for this new Court should replicate that of the ICC. It should cover major international crimes of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. It should go further and be better that ICC jurisdiction, it should encompass crimes such as piracy, terrorism, mercenary activity, corruption, money-laundering, human and narcotics trafficking and the illegal exploitation of natural resources. These are key issues ailing Africa today. And by doing that, ICC will not have any business as far as a New Africa” is concerned.

Where is ICC in Syria?

These are Obama’s words on Conflict in Syria and the use of Chemical Weapons by President Bashar al-Assad government: "On that terrible night, the world saw in gruesome detail the terrible nature of chemical weapons and why the overwhelming majority of humanity has declared them off limits, a crime against humanity and a violation of the laws of war." …….. So, where is Fatou Bensouda?

Conflict and violence are on the rise in Kenya.

In 2012 more than 118,000 people are estimated to have been newly displaced as a result of inter-communal and resource-based violence, linked to a combination of ethnic, political and economic factors. Tens of thousands more have been displaced as a result of natural disasters and development projects.

Although a large number of Kenyans displaced during the post-election violence of 2007 and

2008 are still struggling to "nd durable solutions, the level of service provision and donor attention is rapidly declining. Many assume that the emergency has ended, however there are still humanitarian needs for the IDPs. There is a clear gap between short-term emergency measures and the comprehensive medium and long-term initiatives that internally displaced people (IDPs) need to end their displacement and restart their lives.

Current displacements, mainly affecting pastoralists in arid and semi-arid areas, also need to be acknowledged as significant needs and protection concerns remain. The lack of reliable data on IDPs and their location, including those who have returned to their places of origin or resettled elsewhere, remains a major challenge.

The humanitarian community has begun contingency planning for any large-scale displacement associated with the March 2013 general election, but so far – with the exception of the Kenya Red Cross – it is not fully prepared to respond. Ongoing peace and reconciliation projects, which are critical to the achievement of durable solutions and the prevention of future displacement, are currently at risk of being cut because of insufficient funding. Kenya has made laudable progress in passing a bill and adopting a policy on IDPs, which now need to be implemented.

(Source: report by the International Displacement Centre)

Conflict Sensitive Journalism- what society cannot afford to ignore

With the general election in Kenya just a few days away, and local journalist already facing charges at the International Criminal Court in The Hague over the 2007/08 post election violence, the place of conflict sensitive journalism in the country appears to be critical more than ever before.

Each day, journalists both in print and electronic mainstream media are grappling with the question on whether it is indeed their role to promote peace in the country. They are each day wrestling with the question on whether it is indeed their role to give out a “black out” to inciting statements being churned out every day by mainly political leaders both at national and grassroots level. The journalists, in the comfort of their newsrooms or while in the field are each day grappling with the question on exactly what constitute “inciting statement” or what constitute “hate speech”.

They are each day concerned whether it is indeed their role to “gate keep” and ensure only what cannot cause conflict in the society is published or aired. They are each day haggling on whether they should stick to the journalistic rules that media is the mirror of the society and what is published or aired is indeed a mere reflection of what is happening in the society whether good or bad.

I posed several questions to a few journalists in the Kenya’s mainstream media on some of these issues. Do you think it is your role as a journalist to promote peace in the country? Do you think it is your role as a journalist to report in such a way that you promote peace and not violence? And if yes, how can you do that?

In response, a veteran political journalist, Mr. Walter Menya who has worked for Daily Nation for a considerable number of years and who now works for the Star Newspaper stated that one needs to look at the legal provisions regulating media that prohibit publishing material that could cause hatred among individuals or groups of individuals. He added that in particular, The National Cohesion and Integration Act of 2008 as well as the Communication Act of Kenya require that journalists promote peace in their reporting.

“It is the duty and responsibility of a journalist, therefore to promote peace all the time. However, in doing so, it is ethically wrong to 'kill' stories based on our individual and idiosyncratic value-judgment,” Menya opined.

Mr. Yusuf Juma, a journalist at Radio Jambo, one of the leading Swahili stations in the country, on his part stated that reporting facts and doing so responsibly is a cardinal role for a journalist.

“I don't know if that entails promoting peace, but what if there's violence in a certain area, are you supposed to hide that in the name of promoting peace? But reporting on it with a measure of responsibility and here I mean fairness, objectivity and reason is important,” stated Juma.

Alphonce Shiundu, a political writer with the Daily Nation when asked if he considered it his role as a journalist to promote peace had this to say: “Yes! I do have a moral compass. The thing is I do what I do because I believe we need a better way of life. My obligation is to the citizen. The citizen has to know that it is in his interest to live in peace. My role is to give reliable, truthful information, to help that state of tranquility to persist. Nobody likes violence in their backyard. It all looks cool running all over war zones and other conflict zones donning this tough-guy jungle shirt, with a bullet-proof vest and looking oh-so-tough. But when that violence is in your backyard, and your family, friends and everyone you know is threatened, it stops being a job.”

From these comments, one can deduce a fact that the media can be a source of antagonism and an instigator of conflict rather than a source for peace.  It has potential to create “us versus them” mentality among the respective populations, to the point of inventing crimes and fuelling atrocities. 

In addition to fanning the flames of ethnic tensions, the media can be guilty of obstructing peacemaking efforts by failing to objectively present views of the minority.  Hitler used the media to create an entire worldview of hatred for Jews, homosexuals, and other minority groups. Rwanda’s Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM) urged listeners to pick up machetes and take to the streets to kill what they called ‘the cockroaches.’

Broadcasters in the Balkans polarized local communities to the point where violence became an acceptable tool for addressing grievances between Serbs and Croats in former Yugoslavia.

Locally, at no other forum has the media been indicted so strongly in its role in conflict as was the case before the Commission of Inquiry into Post-Election Violence (CIPEV) which is commonly referred to as the Waki commission and which investigated the 2007/2008 violence.

The report documents that many witnesses “recalled with horror, fear, and disgust the negative and inflammatory role of vernacular radio stations in their testimony and statements to the Commission.” 

The witnesses indicted journalists for “having contributed to a climate of hate, negative ethnicity, and having incited violence.”

To the government, and going by the testimony of the Information and Communication Permanent Secretary Bitange Ndemo, there was absence of a new regulatory and legislative framework, leading to something of an uncontrolled free for all.

According to the PS, some media took advantage of this lacuna and began to “operate freely and sometimes recklessly and irresponsibly,” including using individuals who were not trained journalists, who were partisan, and sometimes were politically biased.

I posed the same question to practicing journalists and who indeed covered the events leading to the violence as well as the aftermath and sought to know if they think the media let down Kenya in 2007 and 2008.

An editor in one of the leading media houses and who did not wish to me named had this to say: “If I was Philip Ochieng, I would do a revision of the book 'I accuse the Press' to incorporate the failures of the Kenyan media in 2007. Every media house in Kenya worth writing about invested heavily in the 2007 elections, including paying correspondents up to Sh20, 000 to report results in real time from tallying centres. That investment however bore nothing as no media exhibited the muscle to stand up and be counted. Secondly, certain journalists became mouthpieces of various politicians and political parties, spewing out the garbage that they were handed in press releases. Same journalists also 'glorified' opinion polls without asking the very basic questions that any journalist worth the designation ought to have asked.”

To Yusuf Juma, the radio journalist, “the media partly let down Kenyans during that period (2007/2008). In as much as facts were reported, there was no objectivity, some news items, both in print and electronic bordered on incitement. Our nuances and attitudes crept into the tone of our stories and the manner of reporting. The Rules of professional Journalism were violated and that's the yard stick of gauging our performance during that time.”

But the most interesting comment came from Shiundu, the Daily Nation journalist. “There was exceptionally good journalism, and there was pathetically horrendous journalism. Mistakes happened. How else do you explain the perception all over the country that some media houses were allied to some politicians? Perceptions of bias are hard to beat at election time. And so it was during the conflict. Every word is scrutinized, even the angle, no matter how newsworthy it is, is questioned. From a professional standpoint, the media did not fabricate the stories. It was a depiction of what was going on, on the ground, so, really, were we supposed to black it out just because it was gory?”

From these comments from practicing journalists, who all covered the events of 2007 and 2008 in the country, it is clear there is a nexus between media and conflict, hence the need for conflict sensitive journalism.

Clearly, while a considerable amount of analysis has focused on the media’s potential to support democracy efforts and build sustainable peace, no similar effort has been given to analyze the role media can play in conflict prevention. Nor has the media’s capacity to incite conflict been sufficiently analyzed and the lessons learned.

As a practicing journalist, who also covered the post election violence, I believe there is need for journalists to be empowered on how they are supposed to determine the kind of attention in the course of their work they ought to give to a given conflict whichever stage that conflict is at.

My own experience is that in any conflict, irrespective of the stage, the parties involved put efforts to “spin” stories in certain way to favour their side and advance their goals and interests. Some of these interests may indeed be geared towards fuelling conflict and exacerbating atrocities to overpower the opponents.

With proper training and continuous retraining, and focus being conflict sensitive journalism, the journalists can easily pick on these “spins” and know how to deal with them in order deflate conflict triggers and turn them into peace and reconciliation drivers.

With proper training on conflict sensitive journalism, journalists, without compromising their work, can contribute to peace and reconciliation merely by restoring levels of trust and self-worth in a population on the brink of or emerging from violence.

Further, journalists have the potential to influence governments, international and local organizations and drive them towards promoting peace and reconciliation in a society. But this cannot happen when the journalists themselves are unaware of the need for conflict sensitive journalism.

Clearly, in training the media practitioners on conflict sensitive journalism, emphasies also ought to be on areas such as what hate speech is and how dangerous it is to advance hatespeech in the media. This is one term whose meaning remains contentious in virtually all newsrooms.

The Media Council, whose responsibilities include investigating complaints against the media, describes hate speech as language “that might incite violence or cause social turmoil.”

The National Cohesion and Integration Act of 2008 defines it as words “intended to incite feelings of contempt, hatred, hostility, violence, [or] discrimination against any person, group or community on the basis of ethnicity or race.” But these remain mere definitions which may not help much unless they are clearly understood by the media practitioners.

In April 2012, The Media Council of Kenya launched guidelines for journalist while covering the general election with an aim of trying to stop a repeat of the events of 2007.

The council said the guidelines are aimed at helping journalists provide comprehensive, accurate, impartial, balanced and fair coverage of the elections.

The council added that this will help the voter to make informed choices.  The council made it clear that the guidelines will apply to all media houses - whether private or state owned – as well as the authorities involved in or policing the process and that have voluntarily adopted them.

Among the issues that journalists are required to uphold are avoiding corruption as it affects journalists, reporting in a balanced and fair manner, ensuring gender balance, diversity of voice and ensuring equitable coverage.

The guidelines are also strict on social media and stated, “Social media is continuing to play a major role in journalism and will be an important future in election coverage. However, the same core principles of journalism as practiced in traditional media should apply to social media journalism.”

The guidelines also request individual media houses to come up with specific social media policies for their journalists. The guidelines want individual journalist to think carefully before posting anything on Twitter or Facebook saying that they will still be identified by individual media houses.

Clearly, this is a positive step, but rules and regulations may not achieve the desired goals if the minds of the media practitioners themselves are not ready to promote conflict sensitive journalism.

Proper training to journalists on conflict sensitive journalist will enable them adequately understand the role of media in the phases of conflict.

For example, in the Pre-conflict phase, the media publicizes the competing interests of conflicting parties, which my lead to a conflict situation, with a view of striking common grounds for a negotiated settlement of differences and thus raise demands for peace.

In the Conflict Stage, the media brings to the society the human, economic, social and political impacts and hence journalist can easily use their platform to reinforce the need for peace.

And in the Post Conflict phase, the media keeps an eye on the enforcement of peace deals, pledges, promises that have been put in place by competing parties and ensures they are implemented.

Journalists also need to be empowered on working in conflict zones. For example they need skills on how they can use their tools to protect life, avoid exacerbating conflict, promote peaceful political, socio-economic and ethno-geographical solutions to conflict as well as how they can help the local communities disengage from violence and develop nonviolent alternatives.

They also need skills on how they can use their tools of trade to address the underlying causes of conflicts and positively influence policies and effective interventions. After all, once violence occurs, journalists and their families, just like anyone else in the society suffer in equal if not worse measure!

(The Writer is a Senior Political Writer for the Star newspaper and also holds a  Masters of Arts degree in International Conflict Management from  University of Nairobi.)

UN voices concern over inter-communal violence in northern Kenya

5 January 2012 – The United Nations humanitarian arm today voiced concern over inter-communal clashes in northern Kenya where some 46 people have died in recent months in reprisal attacks linked to rivalry over pasture and cattle rustling.

The clashes between the Borana and Gabra livestock herding communities around the northern Kenyan town of Moyale, which is situated on the border with Ethiopia, have reportedly also displaced thousands of people.

“What we are seeing up there is cyclical inter-communal revenge attacks and violence between the communities,” said Matthew Conway, spokesperson for the East African bureau of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which is based in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

“What appears to be motivating the violence is competition for land for grazing and livestock,” he said in an interview with UN Radio, adding that the violence follows the recent drought in northern Kenya during which pastoralist communities lost large numbers of their livestock due to the lack of pasture and the drying up of water sources.

“We seem to be seeing groups competing now for land for grazing and conducting raids on each others herds of livestock in an effort to restock some of the animals they may have lost during the drought,” said Mr. Conway.

Clashes have also been reported between members of the Borana and Turkana communities in the central area of Isiolo, he added.

He said access to the areas affected by the violence has not been easy due to insecurity, but the Kenyan Red Cross Society has been carrying out some relief work among those displaced.

“One of the things certainly that OCHA is calling for is greater provision of security and protection by Government authorities in these regions so that we can have access… to populations in need and so that they can also return to their areas of origin,” said Mr. Conway.

He stressed the need to step up ongoing reconciliation efforts to break the vicious cycle of violent animosity between herder communities that inhabit Kenya’s northern and north-eastern regions.

“Communities themselves are at the core of resolving this, but certainly greater attention need to be given by central Government authorities to rein in this violence and rein in the instigators of the violence,” Mr. Conway added.

He said that an estimated 300 people had died in such violence in 2009 and a similar number lost their lives last year, according to OCHA’s tally.

Somalia and Security issues in Kenya

By Hassan Ole Naado

Mistrust between security agencies and the civilian population in the frontline regions bordering Somalia may jeopardise Kenya’s military operation against the al-Shabaab militant group and even frustrate ongoing homeland security efforts.

A grassroots crisis meeting organised over the Christmas weekend by the Kenya Muslim Youth Alliance (KMYA) in collaboration with the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (SUPKEM) to discuss the sudden rise of grenade and machinegun attacks in Garissa Town revealed that many residents of North Eastern Province are unwilling to assist the government arrest perpetrators of these attacks and even prevent some of the attacks because security agents simply ignore their input or end up victimising the very people who volunteer information.

For example, a fact-finding mission organised by KMYA in collaboration with the SUPKEM was told the brutality visited upon good Samaritans who rushed to assist security officers injured when an explosive device blew up the vehicle they were riding in around the Daadab refugee camp has discouraged local people from assisting the government in security matters.

“We fear victimisation and that is why we would rather say nothing and run away when our help is needed. Youth leaders recently reported that they came across a plant devices near the refugee camp and when they reported to the police, they were instead beaten and locked up for interrogation as suspects,” a local youth leader said.

Since Kenya deployed the military in Somalia to pursue al-Shabaab militants that have lately posed a serious threat to the country’s national security, a series of deadly grenade and improvised explosive devises (IEDs) attacks have been carried out against certain establishments and residences where close to ten people, including children and women, have been killed and wounded.

This turn of events has raised concern among grassroots leaders in Garissa, with many of them wondering what has become of Garissa—a town that was two years ago voted the safest town in East and Central Africa.

“Why have we suddenly made this about-turn on peace and security when we were just voted the most peaceful and safest town in the entire East and Central Africa region? Why have we suddenly lost our humanity and where did the rain start beating us?” posed Sheikh Abdullahi Sirat, a senior SUPKEM official who hails from Garissa.

The recent attacks have targeted people perceived to be “outsiders”, a situation KMYA and SUPKEM fear could create religious and ethnic animosity between Muslims and Christians in this region and spill-over to other parts of the country.

Security agencies and other analysts see these attacks as “revenge” carried out by al-Shabaab sympathisers in Kenya who view Kenya’s military campaign in Somalia as a Christian crusade against Muslims and Somalis.

“It is wrong and unacceptable for anyone of us to interpret the ongoing Kenya military operation in Somalia as a war against the entire Somali community and use it as an excuse to attack innocent people elsewhere. Have we suddenly forgotten that Kenya’s defence minister is one of us? So how can anyone say that the operation in Somalia is a campaign against Muslims or Somalis?” Sheikh Sirat added.

Sheikh Mohamed Salat, a local Imam, said the attacks in Garissa have a direct link to the incursion into Somalia by the Kenya’s Defence Forces (KDF) three months ago.

He said that militant youths from Somalia have since been crossing into Kenya to carry out retaliatory attacks against certain targets and that a few locals from several parts of North Eastern Province, who are sympathetic to the Al-Shabaab course, are involved in facilitating the attacks.

Sheikh Salat, however, denounced the attacks and those who facilitate them saying; “Islam itself means peace and every local resident of Garissa who claims to be a Muslim must first and foremost embrace peace.”

He said that Muslims cannot practice their religion and worship effectively in the absence of peace, and that is why it is incumbent upon all Muslims to preach peace in their communities.

“The five pillars of Islam cannot thrive where there is no peace and security, and that is why Allah has made it incumbent upon all Muslims to embrace peace and commanded Muslims to protect the weak and innocent in society including securing the safety of people of other religions,” Sheikh Salat said.

The meeting that brought together youth, women, religious and community leaders provided a platform where participants spoke candidly about the recent wave of attacks in Garissa and its environs.

Majority of participants conceded that as much as the local people bear the greatest responsibility for the attacks because they have allowed criminal elements to operate from their midst, the security agencies are also to blame for not being proactive and insisting on archaic methods of policing.

A youth representative said that the recent attacks in Garissa seem to have been carried out with a lot of sophistication, thus pointing to the fact that those who carried them out are people with advanced military training.

“The people who did these things appear to be well-trained beyond the capacity of local police. This is why the local police should seek new methods of tracking down these criminals by being proactive and not waiting for attacks to occur and then swing into action when it is already too late and start harassing innocent people,” said Aden Barre, a youth leader.

Barre added that since the conduct of Kenya security agents is very predictable, foreign elements come to Garissa to carry out attacks and sneak out knowing very well that the police will later swing into action to harass local innocent people. This, he said, has encouraged the attackers to perpetuate their criminal activities with impunity.

Another youth leader, Musa Mohamed, blamed security agents for ignoring the input of local people, saying that as long as the police continue relying on their “traditional” intelligence gathering systems, they will not get anywhere because the situation in Garissa is very dynamic and, therefore, requires thinking “outside the box.”

“The government is relying on the same old informers to gather intelligence. But today we are dealing with sophisticated criminals and that is why we need the input of local people or officers who understand the local society better in order to deal with crime in Garissa,” Mr Mohamed said.

In this regard, there is a feeling in Garissa, and the entire North Eastern region, that the government should rethink its security strategy in this region by establishing mutually beneficial structures through which local people can play a more active and beneficial role in policing activities.

They said that lack of arrests and arraignment in court of suspected perpetrators of the Garissa attacks showed lack of concern by the government hence encouraging more attacks.

“We expected swift action in arresting and arraigning in court of the people who carried out attacks in Garissa the way the police have done in similar situations in Nairobi and Mombasa. But given that nobody has been arrested for the Garissa attacks, we believe the government does not care or is not serious,” said Sheikh Salat.

They also said that the long history of exclusion has created lack of interest by the local community to cooperate with government in security matters. The icy relationship between locals and the government machinery had made it difficult for a bigger population to volunteer information on criminal activities to the authorities not because they fear to give such information, but because they lack confidence in the government machinery.

The youth said they were not involved in security arrangements in the region yet they are the ones who bear the brunt of police operations whenever there is an attack. According to them, the kind of attacks being carried out in Garissa, including the explosions targeted at security personnel in the refugee camps in Daadab and Ifo, are undertaken with the sophistication that is beyond the comprehension of traditional security communities. Hence, there is a need to incorporate young people in these security committees so that they can bring on board new skills of tracking down such sophisticated criminals.

Because of the apathy they have towards government machinery, the youth also admitted that some young people are being recruited into terror groups where they feel they are more useful.

But despite the challenges, participants resolved to use their grassroots networks and influence to restore and protect peace in Garissa, pointing out that there is no excuse whatsoever for someone or a group of people to create instability in Garissa.

“We must restore and protect the pride of Garissa as the safest and most peaceful town, and that is why all of us must work together,” said Sheikh Sirat.

He conceded that the attacks targeted at certain people perceived to be “outsiders” were placing the town on a dangerous trajectory and called upon the government to support the peace efforts being initiated by local leaders.

The writer is the Deputy Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (SUPKEM)

For further information and details, do not hesitate to contact me directly on my mobile phone number 0722 773 880 or 0732 773 880.

Vision 2030 fuel conflict in Isiolo Northern Kenya

NAIROBI, 25 November 2011 (IRIN) - Pre-election politics and planned development schemes have fuelled an upsurge in inter-communal killings and forced displacement in Kenya's northern Isiolo area, which if left unaddressed, is likely to escalate, say analysts and civil society workers.

Several communities have been caught up in the unrest but the main protagonists are the Borana and Turkana ethnic groups. Recent events indicate the standard interpretation of the conflict being limited to tit-for-tat cattle rustling and drought-related resource conflict is superficial and outdated.

Isiolo features prominently in a major national development plan known as Vision 2030 [ http://www.vision2030.go.ke ] , whereby the town is set to be elevated to a "resort city", complete with up-market hotels and a new airport to boost its tourism potential, rooted in nearby game-parks.

A road linking Isiolo to Moyale, which lies on the Ethiopian border, is being built while oil and gas exploration is under way in the wider Isiolo region.

"Organized" attacks

Since mid-October, seemingly organized attacks have claimed about 20 lives, including those of seven children, and led to the displacement of some 2,900 households, according to humanitarian sources and local officials.

Livestock was not stolen in most of these incidents but dozens of dwellings were set ablaze. Most of the targeted settlements are inhabited by Turkana people. Continuing insecurity has greatly hampered humanitarian response to the displaced, who in many cases fled so quickly they had no time to take any possessions, and whose plight is worsened by the onset of heavy rains.

There is also a "desperate need" for shelter and non-food items such as mosquito nets, kitchen kits, jerry cans, soap, blankets and sleeping mats, according to the findings of a mission to Isiolo conducted by UNICEF, adding that the lack of latrines in displacement sites had resulted in sickness and worries about more cases.

"The Isiolo conflict is political: this is driven by the 2012 election," said a researcher, who asked not to be named because of the tension. "Certain communities are being incited by sitting politicians who are eyeing the new county positions like governorship, senatorship and parliamentary seats."

Kenya's new constitution created 47 new counties to help devolve political and economic power.

"These conflicts are to inflict fear and displace the so-called minority communities in Isiolo," he said.

"In the absence of appropriate security measures and law-enforcement interventions aimed at preventing future clashes and inter-ethnic violence, there is a real risk that the situation could deteriorate significantly in the lead-up to the 2012 elections," UNICEF said in its mission report.

Leaders of various communities - Somali, Samburu, Gabra and Rendille as well as Turkana and Borana - told IRIN they blamed the escalation of violence on the failure of local authorities to address the root causes of the unrest.

"The police and army have not and will never resolve disputes among the locals," said Joseph Kalapata of the Forum for the Protection of Pastoralist Development.

"Our people should be informed that they all lose conflicts. They also need to understand that he current constitution guarantees equal sharing of resources," he added.

Some leaders also pointed to the failure of a disarmament operation in 2010 to rid some pastoralist communities of all of their weapons. There are plans to renew the exercise in December.

Economic conflict

The Borana are the largest and politically dominant ethnic group in Isiolo. Drought in 2011 led to an influx of large numbers of pastoralists from various groups. Isiolo's economic growth has also served as a magnet.

In the 2007 general election, the local parliamentary seat was won by a Borana, with a Turkana coming a close second.

"These conflicts are being used by the Borana to suppress their future political and economic competitors like the Turkana and Somalis," said the researcher.

The conflict is about "political numbers, not resources, because civilians, including women and children are being killed and nothing stolen", he said.

"How do you kill a small child and shoot a pregnant woman? Why should you kill people at two in the morning, shoot people while they are still sleeping? These are the questions we need to ask ourselves," said an Isiolo-based civil society worker.

Displaced

"As we are talking, many Turkana have run away from their homes, it is really a pity," said the civil society worker. "The Turkana also happen to be in quite a number of places where these developments will be."

"Let the truth be told, the Turkana are holding large swathes of land to the detriment of other communities," a senior member of Isiolo county council was reported as telling a recent meeting convened to discuss deteriorating security.

The Turkana are mainly located in the outskirts of Isiolo town.

"There are five major communities in Isiolo which are all fighting for recognition. All of them think that they have a stake, leading to misunderstandings and the formation of alliances that have led to the loss of lives," the civil society worker said.

"We want people to go back to normality with no more deaths. This kind of organized intimidation has to stop," he said.

According to local sources who spoke to IRIN, a lack of clear land tenure policy has helped fuel conflict in the area as tracts earmarked for development are taken over, or "grabbed", by people keen to cash in on Vision 2030.

Another source of tension is private game parks, known as "conservancies", tourist destinations also designed to reduce poaching and promote community development. The Borana and Somali communities feel excluded from the economic benefits they deliver as well as their rich pastureland.

According to a priest in Isiolo, Jeremia Ndungu: "The great concern is how to broker peace among the communities who are unequal in matters of resources."

Mama Kapua, a Turkana mother-of-12, fled her home in the Isiolo suburb of Kambi Garba after it was attacked on 22 October. Her husband, who stayed behind with one of their sons, died when the house was set on fire. The son escaped with burns.

"They [the attackers] are bringing in people from outside Isiolo who cannot speak Kiswahili. They are here to fight," she told IRIN.

"My husband had nothing valuable worth being killed for. My son was preparing for exams," she said, explaining that she managed to escape with the help of an ethnic Somali neighbour who lent her a niqab as a disguise.