Somali elders call for dialogue to end pastoral conflicts

A section of Somali elders from Isiolo and Garissa Counties have condemned the ongoing conflict among pastoral communities in the area, calling for the conflicting parties to cease fire and employ dialogue to resolve the grazing land issue.

The counties are among the most affected by the ongoing drought, a situation that has caused herders in the region to forcefully invade areas with their animals in search of pasture and water.

This has led to a series of retaliatory attacks pitting the Somali and Borana communities in the area.

The county security team, elders from both communities and the Northern Rangelands Trust are expected to hold peace meetings in the area to avert further retaliatory attacks and help restore peace along the Isiolo-Garissa border.

Isiolo County Deputy Governor, Mohamed Guleid, said that communities should not let the menace of drought divide them and kill each other as it will come to an end.

“The short rains will come very soon, let’s be patient as this drought situation will come to an end and pasture and water will be all over,” said the deputy governor.

The Vice Chair of Somali Council of Elders, Abdulkadir Sharif Abdulahi, called upon the herders from the neighboring Garissa County to respect the laid down grazing rules that were supposed to bring sanity in such situations.

“All herders should respect other’s grazing territories. Instead, they should seek permission from the respective Grazing Committees to avoid hostility from the hosts,” said the vice chairperson of the Council of Elders.

Isiolo County has faced constant invasion by pastoralists from Garissa, Wajir, Marsabit and Samburu counties because of the proper utilization of grazing land attributed to strict regulations on grazing patterns, laid down by the Borana Council of Elders.

Currently, there is tension in the region after bandits believed to be from Banane in Lagdera attacked and killed five people in Duse Market on the dawn of Friday, March 10.

Written by Majanga Michael