Garissa County Commissioner Mohamed Mwabudzo has commended residents of the Border towns of Garissa County and Isiolo for stopping a long border conflict.
The Borana from Garba-Tula in Isiolo County and their Aulihan counterpart from Lagdera in Garissa County have had a long history of bloody border clashes dating back to 2015 where hundreds have been killed and thousands of families displaced.
Hundreds of livestock have also been either killed or stolen in the process.
Efforts by the government to try and restore sanity in the troubled areas have time again been unsuccessful as killings and destruction of property continue to be reported after a period of lull
However, the situation has changed with no incident reported for almost a year now.
Elders and community peace committees from both sides have been working together to ensure that any lost livestock are safely returned to their owners without conflicts.
Speaking in Modogashe town during Madaraka day celebrations, the County Commissioner said that peace and security had been achieved as a result of the peacefully co-existence between residents from the two neighbouring counties.
He said that both leaders and residents have a role to play in ensuring that the peace and security is not only achieved but maintained.
“Security situation has improved significantly in the county. If we look back from where we were a few years back and where we are at now, theres a big difference and the small issues remaining we are still working on them,” Mwabudzo said.
“We are a peaceful country and I would not like us to keep facing conflicts. Security is a responsibility of every one of us because as security agencies, we also need you to give us information from the most interior parts of the county so that we act on it,” he added.
He said that going forward, the government will work closely with other NGOs to address the issue of stealing animals with a view of finding a permanent solution to it noting that it was one
On his part Lagdera MP Abdikadir Hussein while thanking residents from both sides for maintaining peace said that there was need for the on the government to ensure that the peace committees are activate in sub counties and villages to avert any inter-clan clashes caused by scramble over resources.
He further urged the CS interior Kithure Kindiki to deploy enough security officers in all the areas that have had trouble in the past.
“While we are happy and thank God that our people are now peacefully co-existing and going about their day to day business without having to worry about insecurity, we call on the government to remain alert and proactive. We don’t want to a reactive government which only waits for something to happen before they act,” he said.
Drought has always been synonymous with conflicts between the two neighboring communities as they tend to fight over the little available resources like water and pasture.
By Erick Kyalo
