Moi blames local officials for ethnic clashes

President Daniel arap Moi on Thursday blamed Kenya's provincial administrators' poor performance of their duties for ethnic clashes in parts of the country during a speech at the Kenya Institute of Administration, Kabete, on the outskirts of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, where 41 District Commissioners completed a five-day administration course. "What I find difficult is that violence occurs in districts because DCs don't know their responsibilities," the 'Daily Nation' on Friday quoted Moi as saying.

In less than a year, some 56 people have been killed in Tana River, eastern Kenya, in an ethnic war pitting the sedentary Pokomo against pastoralist Ormas, the report stated. Four more Pokomo people were killed on Wednesday night and more than 100 manyattas (dwellings) set ablaze when pastoralists attacked their houses at Shirikisho village, Garsen division, according to Kenyan media reports. Fighting between the Pokomo and Orma was raging at Chara and Kinakomba locations following the arrival of huge herds of livestock from the hinterland in search of water and pasture in the Tana Delta, they added.

The Pokot and the Marakwet were also at war in the North Rift over cattle rustling; and on the Gucha-Trans Mara border, quarrels over land and pastures have led to loss of lives and destruction of property, the 'Daily Nation' reported on Friday. Thousands of people were killed in ethnic clashes in parts of the Rift Valley in 1991-1994, which were widely reported to have been politically motivated, and in Coast Province in 1997.

Various peace initiatives were underway to address some of the major ethnic clashes throughout the country, including between the Ormas and Pokomos in Tana River, UNOCHA Kenya reported on Thursday. "The incidence of clashes continues, however, affecting food security and the safety of non-combatants as well as [humanitarian] operations," it said. Units of the paramilitary General Services Unit had been sent to the district to curb escalating violence, brought about when conflict of land use practices was exacerbated by early dry-season grazing as a result of the current drought, it added.

Several national and international agencies have now joined together, through the auspices of local partner Caritas Malindi, to establish a Local Peace Coordination Committee which would work to map out the players and issues involved, get a better understanding of the situation, and work towards sustainable peace and development in Tana River District, OCHA reported. [see Humanitarian Update on Kenya page at: http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf]