Residents of the troubled Nkararo land in Trans Mara West Sub County can breathe a sigh of relief after the state revised the extended curfew hours imposed on them five months ago.
Rift Valley Regional Commissioner George Natembeya revised the 4pm to 7am curfew hours imposed in April this year to 6pm to 6am saying he was comfortable by the way the residents were conducting themselves.
The curfew hours had been extended after a policeman was murdered at midday beside the Kilgoris- Nkararo route by assailants who took off in the sugarcane plantation.
This hiked tension in the land that led to a three day inter-clan skirmishes that saw several people injured and houses torched.
“The decision to revise the curfew was agreed upon after a series of meetings with the local elders drawn from the Uasin Gishu and Siria clans that conflicted and the calm witnessed in the area in the recent past,” said the RC.
He said the revised curfew hours would run for one month within which the security agents would closely monitor the area and in case no incident of insecurity is reported, the curfew would automatically expire.
“We are monitoring you closely. In case we hear of any skirmishes again, then we will go back to the 4pm to 7am curfew hours; but if you people will agree to live like brothers and sisters, then the 6pm to 6am curfew will automatically be lifted after one month,” reiterated Natembeya.
Natembeya lauded the two Maasai clans; Uasin Gishu and Siria that have been battling for a long time for agreeing to come together and resolve their differences.
“I am happy that some piece of land that could not be cultivated because of the differences of the residents is now being cultivated. This is the way to go,” added the RC.
The RC visited the area yesterday in the company of Rift Valley regional Police Commander Marcus Ocholla and Narok County Commissioner Samuel Kimiti among other top regional security officers.
Natembeya asked the residents to use the right structures like court, police and human rights’ organizations to channel their complaints instead of battling each other.
The fracas in the agricultural rich area are traced back to the early 1970s when the two Maasai clans differed over land issues.
However, despite the Department of Lands putting a clear boundary to separate the two clans, the residents still battled each other and hardly would three months end without fresh conflicts being witnessed in the area.
A General Service Unit (GSU) camp built in the area also seemed not to be bearing much fruit as dozens of persons have been killed, tens injured while several houses burnt this year.
The battled land is one of the richest agricultural zones in Narok County as it produces a lot of Sugar cane used by Mara Sugar Industry in addition to tea, onions, bananas, maize and a variety of vegetables.
By Ann Salaton
