One person was killed and five other people seriously injured following a fresh flare-up that erupted at Olposimoru area in Narok North Sub County on Monday.
Briefing the press after a security meeting in his office Tuesday, the Narok County Commissioner (CC), Samuel Kimiti said the clashes were sparked off when three men from a warring community were attacked while grazing within Mau Forest by a rival community.
One person was killed on the spot with an arrow while the rest were able to escape bringing in reinforcement that led to more people getting injured.
The clashes were further fueled when the attacked community lost five heads of cattle and retaliated by taking 25 heads of cattle from the rival community to compensate for the theft of their animals.
Kimiti has warned those fueling the clashes that they would be arrested and arraigned individually and not as a community.
He has further asked the communities to desist from grazing within the prohibited Mau forest which was recently reclaimed by the National Government.
The CC further said that the victims admitted to either public or private hospitals within Narok or the bordering Nakuru County would be subjected to investigations as they will have to answer on how they were injured within a prohibited forest.
Kimiti said the two counties of Narok and Nakuru would be working together to ensure the safe keeping of Mau forest.
Security has been beefed up by the General Service Unit and the Police Service in the volatile area to restore peace and ensure further attacks or altercations do not occur in the volatile area.
The Narok North Sub County Police Commander, Fred Eric Siundu led a contingent of security personnel to the area Tuesday and the County Commissioner is set to visit the area today.
The Maasai and Kipsigis communities living in Narok have recently been clashing over cattle and land that has led to the loss of lives and millions of property. Skirmishes were recently experienced in Lockman forest in Entiyani area and Olpusimoru on the Narok/ Nakuru County border last month.
In the earlier case, trouble started when one of the warring communities failed to honour an ultimatum to return 18 heads of cattle that they had allegedly stolen from the other community.
The Rift Valley Regional Commissioner (RC), George Natembeya then convened a peace meeting at Likia on Narok/ Nakuru border and warned leaders from both counties against inciting the locals.
The National Steering Committee on Peace Building led by its Chair, Francis Ole Kaparo and National Cohesion Commission have also been visiting Narok South and North to seek a lasting solution to this problem by helping the communities to resolve the underlying issues that have led to perennial clashes between the two fore-mentioned communities.
By Mabel Keya-Shikuku
