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| President Uhuru Kenyatta. PHOTO COURTESY: online sources. |
The ever worsening "hunger and/or food scarcity" dynamics in most of northern Kenya counties bring to the fore several reasons why we need - as a nation - to seek to know if this hunger narrative is purely as a result of drought, (the hot and dry) weather conditions of the affected areas or due to other causes.
Many official reports, if not all, have linked hunger in northern Kenya, and especially in Turkana County to dry weather. Recently, Devolution and Planning Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru, unveiled the latest version of these many "hunger reports".
Though many findings of these reports, especially parts detailing the causes of starvation up north of this nation could be true, an important cause that overrides all the other listed causes is conspicuously missing.
I will single out Turkana County to explain this point.
Starvation in Turkana is not wholly a weather problem. Starvation in Turkana is largely caused by tribal terrorism - that "simple crime" that our media casually refers to as banditry or cattle rustling. This malaise has reduced whole energetic populations to paupers depending on food rations from the government and/or aid organisations.
Let me walk you through the most affected zones in Turkana in order to grasp the bruises this tribal terrorism has meted on the people of Turkana County.
Most of the fertile lands in Turkana are situated in its southern parts, that is, areas bordering West Pokot County. These lands are spread over two constituencies (Turkana East and South) covering Lomelo Division (which houses the troubled Kapedo area), Lokori, Lokichar, Katilu and Kainuk Divisions.
Of these five divisions, only Lokichar can be deemed to be "peaceful". It is also dry and devoid of any permanent river. Technically, it is not "attractive" to expansionists.
The other four divisions are dotted with permanent rivers and vast fertile lands. Paradoxically, this is where you find "idle" populations that depend entirely on food rations. This "idleness" isn't inherently their choice. They cannot till their lands for fear of being killed by tribal criminals. Those who dare visit their farms have borne the brunt of these attacks.
In these areas more people die of gun attacks than all other causes combined! It is a war zone out there.
These attacks, though unofficially recognised, are believed to be fueled by need to displace host communities and "revert" ownership of these agricultural lands to their "rightful owners". (Whatever that means I leave it to authorities to tell Kenyans the true position.)
The same way religious fanatics base their heinous acts on their "goal" to push away "infidels", these tribal expansionists are on a move to curtail any attempt by local peoples to till their land and empower themselves.
They are not bandits in search of livestock. These are warlords determined to cripple a whole population.
The resultant effect is what you see. The south of Turkana can't reap from its rich agricultural lands and by extension the whole of Turkana suffers from hunger.
Many interventions to right these wrongs have been effected. However, these interventions remain wrong interventions. Distributing food rations to people of Turkana County isn't the answer.
Opening many under-equipped police posts or arming locals to defend themselves cannot change things.
Confronting these tribal terrorists is the missing antidote. And this is why we ask: Mr President, aren't you capable of protecting us from these tribal terrorists?
We want to feed ourselves. We are tired of food rations. Keep these blood-thirsty terrorists plus their sponsors at bay and you will be surprised by the positive outcome of your intervention.
We know this is possible. We were here before things changed for the worst. We want to be real players in the building of this great nation. We believe you have the key to unlock all these possibilities.
This is our only prayer to you, Mr President: Unlock these possibilities and the people of Turkana will remember you for many years to come.
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