The Kenya Red Cross Society and the County Government through the Department of Peace Building and Conflict Management will convene a peace meeting in Lokichoggio and thereafter a community one in Nadapal next week to find a solution to the dispute between the Toposa of South Sudan and Turkana communities.
In a meeting between the KRCS and county government department of Peace Building and Conflict Management, the two parties will be seeking to provide a forum for the two communities to openly and honestly discuss issues that will lead to peaceful co-existence.
This resolve comes against a backdrop of heightened tensions between the two communities that has led to fighting which has threatened to erode the gains made in ensuring peaceful coexistence of the two communities.
On Friday, there was a gun battle at the Nadapal border that ran between 1pm to 5pm.
Sources confirmed that there were no casualties reported from the Turkana side.
The Kenya Red-Cross team led by Emily Muthei who represented the County Coordinator, paid a courtesy call to the Director, Peace Building and Conflict Management, Geoffrey Apedor, who discussed a number of issues on cross border Peace and Conflict Management.
The meeting aimed at inducting the Directorate of Peace Building and Conflict Management on resilience, health and rights programmes with specific focus on peace engagements in the county.
“We are looking forward to collaborating with partners and peace loving citizens to bring about the peace we all yearn for,” said Apedor.
On her part, Muthei said that Kenya Red Cross will be one of the peace partners working jointly with the Directorate of Peace to address and manage conflict in Turkana West and to some extent in the Loima corridor.
In that regard, Muthei said, “KRCS is willing to participate and support the Turkana Peace Actors Forum and the launch of the Turkana County Peace Building and Conflict Management Act 2022 meeting scheduled on 1st to 3rd March 2023 at Eliye Springs.”
Muthei was accompanied by officers from her organization among them Project Officer, Resilience, Health and Rights Dennis Were and Security Officer, at Kenya Red-Cross Kalobeyei Refugee office Geoffrey Nyakundi.
By Peter Gitonga
