Displaced farmers pay for police escorts

Ongoing clashes that have displaced more than 100,000 people in Mt Elgon District near the Kenya-Uganda border have disrupted farming and trading activities, sources said.

"Those who had planted potatoes on their farms need to pay police escorts to go to their farms and to go to the market to sell the produce," Sokwony Laikong, a teacher in the affected areas, said.

Former resident Geoffrey Ngeywa, who is now living in the neighbouring Marakwet district, said: "Life is very hard; people have fled their homes due to the tension. There are also a lot of burglaries and destruction of property."

According to the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS), the number of displaced people has risen to 116,220 – many of whom remain within the Mt Elgon District. Others have fled to neighbouring districts and across the border into Uganda.

KRCS said at least 184 people have died in the clashes, while 13 people had their ears chopped off near the Kopsiro area in July.

"Women, children, the elderly and the disabled are the most vulnerable," Anthony Mwangi, KRCS public relations manager, said. "The situation is far from over.”

A humanitarian official working in the district, who requested anonymity, said determining the exact number of displaced people had been problematic. "They are not staying in camps, making the assessment difficult," he said.

Fighting broke out in Mt Elgon in December 2006 after inter-clan disputes over land between one group of the Soy (part of the Sabaot), the Pok, and another Sabaot clan, the Mosop pastoralists, who comprise the Ogiek (hunter-gatherers) and the Ogiik.

Claims of injustice over land allocation in the Chebyuk settlement scheme led to the formation of the Sabaot Land Defence Forces, a group believed to be behind the ongoing attacks.

Church leaders said tension remained high. Reverend William Kebeney, of the Full Gospel Churches of Kenya (FGCK), which runs a health centre in the district, said some local health facilities, said to be built on land belonging to the Soy, were being told not to offer services to members of the Mosop community.

According to Kebeney, the number of people seeking treatment for injuries has not increased significantly. "During such clashes, the victims are not just injured, they are killed. Those who suffer minor injuries treat them at home," he said.

Mwangi said the onset of the cold season has caused an upsurge in malaria, pneumonia, respiratory complications, oedema, malnutrition and waterborne diseases among the displaced.

The KRCS, which has been offering aid since December, had insufficient resources, he added, and was appealing for assistance.

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