Isiolo Deputy County Commissioner Patrick Musango has urged pastoralist elders to involve women in peace initiatives for greater impact. Musango said women are influential at family levels where they can easily persuade their spouses and children to keep away from criminal incidences like cattle rustling, female genital mutilation, prostitution and early pregnancies among school-going girls.
The DCC emphasized the importance of involving women and other stakeholders in peace initiatives to ensure collective responsibility and security for citizens’ business operations.
Musango said that local elders are not accepting women in discussions relating to security which could have contributed to an increase in cases of livestock theft.
He challenged elders from the pastoral communities to recognize the importance of women in peace committees since they can prevail upon morans and other young men to keep off engaging in crimes.
The DCC alleges that elite families and politicians have been exploiting young men from humble backgrounds for rustling, with some of the perpetrators killed in raids.
The administrator said the government and development actors spent a lot of resources on matters of security at the expense of development.
The region’s development has been hindered by acts of backwardness such as cattle rustling, highway banditry, and FGM, even in the 21st century.
“I humbly urge our people to stop these practices for the sake of promoting growth of the region and avoid forcing the government to arrest the perpetrators of the crime,” he said.
Musango made the remarks while opening a one-day workshop for elders from Borana, Somali, Turkana and Samburu communities at Archers post in Samburu East Sub County.
He insisted that the government will not be intimidated by crime sponsors to recover stolen animals from any region, as their role is to protect citizens’ lives and property.
The Peace Link Organization Coordinator Abdia Muhamud urged elders to talk to their community members and advise them to stop indulging in illegal activities aiming to get rich quickly.
By Abduba Mamo
