Elders from two communities in Migori have resolved to uphold peace between them.
Luo and Kuria council of elders vowed to influence their people to embrace peaceful co-existence between them.
Through their spokes persons Benson Owino and Mwita Magenyi, the elders said they had joined forces to ensure their people live harmoniously.
“We want to tell the whole country that we have agreed to remain peaceful,” said Mr Owino soon after attending a peace building meeting in Isebania town Tuesday.
Eighty Seven year old Mzee Owino, who is the Patron of the Luo council of elders, said elders from both sides had been holding security meeting for months now, preaching peace among their people, especially the youth.
On his part, Kuria Council of elders’ chairman Mr Magenyi said their council of elders which is the custodian of all cultural issues and the security of the community was fully behind the move to strike a peaceful coexistence of all communities living within the county.
He said the council has always been keen to soberly address issues that could be emotive between their community and other communities especially the Luo with whom they share Migori County.
“It is not only Luos who we are fighting hard to strike peace with but also the Maasais from Transmara who have engaged us in wars for many years now,” he told the peace forum
He cited cattle rustling as one factor that was contributing to frequent conflicts between Luos and Kurias and urged the government to step up efforts towards eliminating the vice once and for all.
“Cattle rustling has triggered proliferation of illegal firearms that are causing serious insecurity in the region,” said Magenyi.
However, he supported voluntary repossession of illegal weapons from residents rather than forceful recovery.
“The government should give leaders more time to try to convince their people to surrender the firearms instead of deploying security officers to forcefully get them,” he said.
The state has issued ultimatums to swoop on illegal guns in the region and has in the past recovered a number of these weapons although a good number are still believed to be in the wrong hands in the region.
By George Agimba
