In February, more than 30,000 Kenyans crossed into neighboring Ethiopia following an inter- communal conflict in Moyale

SPECIAL REPORT BY XINHUA CORRESPONDENT Peter Mutai
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NAIROBI (Xinhua) -

The UN migration agency said on Tuesday it was seeking emergency aid to assist some 8,000 Ethiopians displaced by conflict including host community in Moyale on the Kenyan side of the common frontier.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said the funds will help it respond to the urgent humanitarian needs of the displaced Ethiopians and the community that hosts them in Somare, Moyale district in northern Kenya.

"The needs of the displaced population include emergency shelter, non-food relief items, medicine, food, and water and sanitation services.

"The host communities need additional food aid, " IOM said in the statement.

The agency said the situation has now stabilized, but added that tensions between the two communities remain high.

At least 33,000 Ethiopians fled into Kenya through Moyale in northern region in July due to a tribal conflict between the Borana and the Garri communities of the Horn of Africa nation, according to the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS).

The eruption of fighting in southern Ethiopia between the Borana and Garri communities allegedly over a piece of land dispute caused a sudden movement of Ethiopians into the outskirts of Moyale town on the Kenya side of the border.

The relief agency said the fault line has created a scenario of two camps emerging upon their arrival into Kenya with the Borana community camping at Somare Primary School in Somare location and Garris camping at Taqwa Mosque in Manyatta location.

The displacement and subsequent migration of the Ethiopian population into Kenya was sparked by simmering dispute over land and is between the Borana and Garri communities after the Dhogothia community of northeastern pushed the Boranas out of the areas they previously occupied occasioning the Ethiopian government to settle the Borana community into the disputed lands.

In a statement, IOM said the host community, which receives food from the UN World Food Program (WFP), has largely exhausted its resources in providing assistance to the displaced and as such both populations now need help.

It said an inter-agency assessment led by IOM, UNHCR and WFP, with the assistance of World Vision and in coordination with the Kenyan administrators in Moyale, was carried out to determine the number of people displaced following fighting that broke out between the Gari and Borana tribes from Ethiopia in late July.

"The assessment also sought to identify emergency needs and shelter requirements, assess environmental health issues, conduct a return intentions survey, and develop an initial humanitarian response plan in coordination with other agencies," it said.

According to IOM, the assessment established that while many of the displaced have already returned home, those remaining are currently all in one location—Somare—either camping out or living with host families.

"Preliminary results of the assessment also show that the majority of the displaced intend to return home once security and shelter conditions in their communities of origin have improved," the statement said.

In February, more than 30,000 Kenyans crossed into neighboring Ethiopia following an inter-communal conflict in Moyale.

The UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said local authorities in Ethiopia confirmed some 30,000 Kenyans fled to Ethiopia due to reprisal attacks linked to rivalry over pasture, cattle rustling and local politics.

Fighting between the Borana and Gabra communities began in December, 2011, mostly over control of resources such as water and grazing land but the conflict has also been linked to politics.

The locals said then that relative calm returned in the area although more families who had fled the resource-linked conflict between the Gabra and Borana pastoralist communities have not returned.

ISIOLO, 2 April 2012 (IRIN) -

Hundreds of families in the central county of Isiolo have been displaced as deadly clashes pitting the Borana, Somali and Turkana communities escalate.
Ibrahim Sheikh Mohamud, a leader from the neighbouring Wajir region, told IRIN that at least 210 Isiolo families have been taken to the Anjara area in Wajir West in the past week.

"They are now settled at Anjara but they sleep in the open. Almost all the children have pneumonia and malaria. They need tents, food assistance and drugs," Mohamud told IRIN in Isiolo.

Among those fleeing the violence are widows, orphaned children and livestock herders who have lost their herds to raiders in the past year.
"We only ferried children, women and the elderly using trucks that were offered by individuals," said Mohamud. "Some of us contributed fuel and food to assist these families; they are in a very pathetic situation."
In the latest attack on 30 March, a young girl and an adult were shot dead less than 5km from Isiolo town.

Five other people, among them a female teacher, were killed on 28 March in nearby Kilimani.
According to UN sources, two ethnic Boranas were reportedly killed by suspected Turkana gunmen in the Gambella area along the Isiolo-Garba Tulla road on 30 March, raising fears the incident could spark further revenge attacks in the coming days.

Ordered out
Herders from Wajir and Mandera districts have also started leaving Isiolo following a government directive.
"We have lost a lot of animals and people," said Hassan Nurow, a livestock owner who was heading to Wajir.

"We were expecting the government to protect us but unfortunately... [the government] instead ordered us to leave and blamed us for causing the skirmishes."
The acting permanent secretary for provincial administration and internal security, Mutea Iringo, last week ordered all migrant pastoralists to leave Isiolo.
"These people have no reason to be around.

They came here because of the drought. It has rained [and] Northeastern [Province] has enough pasture, so they have to leave immediately," Iringo told IRIN.
The herders were said to have been asked by local politicians to remain in Isiolo to allow them to register to vote in the upcoming 2013 elections.

Politics and planned development schemes have fuelled an upsurge in inter-communal killings and displacements in Isiolo since mid-October 2011.
According to Iringo, some of the three communities' political leaders have been instigating clashes for personnel gain.

"Some of the so-called herders - claiming to be innocent - are crooks involved in the gun-running business," he said.
"They had established Isiolo as a storage place for the guns... Evidence attesting to this [is] available. Some have been arrested selling guns or while poaching."
Meanwhile, traders and business people are suffering.
"I have lost many animals. I had to sell four camels at 360,000 shillings (US$4,390) to hire home guards and rent a house for my family,” local livestock farmer Abdi Salan Sheikh, told IRIN.
He said he had lost more than 50 camels and 246 goats, and has had to move his family back to Mandera, in the northeast. "My children have been unable to secure a place in school in Mandera until next term."
Shariff Mohamed, a Somali camel milk trader in Isiolo, told IRIN business rivalry was also a problem.

"We have a group of people who fear that Somalis will take control of the town… I am not moving but unfortunately I only get 40 litres [of milk] unlike in the past when I used to sell 200 litres to Nairobi every day.”

Turkanas displaced
The violence has displaced at least 500 Turkana families from Isiolo town.

They are now seeking refuge in Isiolo’s Ngaremara Location and in neighbouring Laikipia and Samburu districts, Ekwam Terru, a local Turkana leader, told IRIN.
"We have lost a lot. [Most] of our people are camping at a church in Ngaremara. Almost a thousand have moved to Samburu and Laikipia; they include school children." He said at least 5,000 ethnic Turkana had been displaced and more than 122 of their houses torched.
A Ngaremara livestock trader said he is no longer able to access the Isiolo livestock market: "I have nothing now. My house was burnt. I have abandoned my farm. My kids are out of school.”
“We are in a worse condition and more desperate than Somalis [in Somalia] who have been fighting for over two decades,” said the trader.
According to upper eastern regional commissioner Isaiah Nakoru, the government has deployed security officers in the area and appealed to residents to help end the conflict, which has left dozens dead and displaced thousands since late 2011.

ISOLO, 2 April 2012 (IRIN) - Abdi Adan, an ethnic Somali living in Kenya’s central region of Isiolo, which has recently seen clashes between the Borana, Somali and Turkana communities and the displacement of thousands of people, tells IRIN about his experience of the violence.

"I will always remember the past year’s events, the killing of family members, friends, neighbours and many residents of my village, Kampi Garba [2km from Isiolo town].
“These days, I spend most of the day mourning with relatives and families whose father, mother or son has been killed.
“About 10 minutes ago, I attended the burial of a teacher who was killed yesterday [28 March] at Kilimani village [in Isiolo]; I helped to dig the grave.

This is not the first, and I am afraid most likely not the last, burial I will attend. I have attended the burials of more than 60 people in the past six months.
"I am afraid to attend more burials, it could be a close family member; anything is possible in Isiolo now.
“I almost lost my [six] children, and the seven children of my late brother who was abducted by bandits last month [February] and killed, on the most painful day in my life - the day I lost all my camels and my house was burnt.
“It's painful to lose - in less than five minutes - livestock and property that you have struggled to accumulate for more than 20 years.
“I worked as a herder, moved to town, started operating as a livestock trader and broker and managed to build this house and bought the camels.

But right now, I am a beggar with no home, no property and worst of all without clothes.
“I live like a wild animal, worse than a bird which is sure [of] where to get its food and shelter. At the moment, I have moved my children and my late brother’s children to relatives’ and clan members’ houses in Bullapesa [Isiolo], which is safe.

They stay in four different houses, while I stay in a friend’s kitchen with my wife; we have been separated by circumstances. I never imagined that I would lead this kind of life.
“The skirmishes in Isiolo have affected my life, diminished my status. I am a beggar because my children rely on relatives and clan members to feed them. They get very little and are not comfortable.
“My children have not attended school for the last three months; three of them have said they are no longer interested in going back to school. They are still shocked and not ready to go back to Kambi Garba

“More than 20 houses have been burnt [in] our village. Many people have fled to town; we all need assistance… shelter, tents and food.

The few lucky people are selling their animals to rent houses in town, while many families have fled far away from Isiolo.
“A truck [loaded] with 200 bags of rice for distribution to the displaced families was at Nomad Village, less than 200m away on [29 March] morning but we were unable to get the food because it’s impossible to move past Gaza Strip, the boundary between us and the Turkana ethnic group.”

Fighting erupted when concerned villagers approached a heavily armed forces taking positions outside Camuq and Malab villages earlier this week, eyewitnesses said.

"They [the militia] refused to identify themselves and told the villagers they shouldn't be concerned," said Kokolfa Dafarsha in a phone interview from New York.

"When the villagers warned that they would call in the Ethiopian military from the nearby military outpost, Shawa Bar, the armed men began firing at the villagers."

Both sides sustained heavy losses, Dafarsha added citing reports from the ground. Fighting eventually expanded to the town of Moyale on Thursday where a warehouse and police station was reportedly burned down.

The Oromia regional government security spokesman confirmed property damage and heavy fighting that took place over three days and continued until Friday, VOA journalist Henok Fente said on Twitter.

Phone calls to Moyale did not go through. Citing eyewitness accounts, Dafarsha said, "Ethiopian military and police conspicuously watched the townsfolk attempt to stop the invasion." Other sources claim that the military has brought the conflict under control by noon on Friday.

The UN office in Addis Ababa said at least 20 died in the tribal conflict between Garri and Borana tribes. Fente confirmed the death toll as well as the wounding of more than 30 people."I saw four dead bodies, I know more than 20 of those wounded and dead," one eyewitness told Fente.

According to Henok, the fighters, who carried heavy weaponry, spoke the Somali language and were not from the Garri tribe.

He said that security remains a major issue for residents of surrounding areas who have witnessed the ensuing conflict.

Another witness reported that the fighting ensued in three villages outside of Moyale before spreading into the border town.

Conflicts over water and grazing land with neighboring Gari tribe and Somali groups have been endemic to the area.

It is not immediately clear which group initiated, and why the current skirmish started .

Moyale is a border town between Kenya and Ethiopia, which has seen numerous conflicts over the years.

In the past, in its pursuit of Oromo Liberation Front rebels, a group that fights for greater autonomy for the Oromo people, the Ethiopian government has harshly cracked down on the people of Borana.

comment from a reader:

Garre warrior • 9 hours ago

Why do you just say that the villagers were Gabra and Garre who leave in both chamuq and Malab?

The invading militia were from oromia state who were mostly Arsi, Guji and more than hundred of the invading militia were killed.

The Garre and Gabra warriors succeed in destroying the Oromo police station that was used in shelling the Garre neighborhoods.

It was a clear orchestration by Oromia state that was trying to dislodge Garre and Gabra from their home.

Yes, it true that the Federal Army who are mainly made up of Oromos allowed the invading OPDO militia to attack.

Many Garre businesses were looted but at end Gabra and Garre warriors succeeded in defeating the OPDO terrorists.

They are trying to steal our land just in case the prime minister dies.

Let the OPDO terrorist learn that Garre are capable of defeating the Federal army ...

source: Capital FM

Nairobi — Five people were killed in Mandera on Wednesday morning in apparent retaliatory attacks following the slaying of five other people on Monday.

The attacks occurred at Rhamu when attackers raided remote villages there at about 5am, according to police.

"Five people have been killed and there are three others who sustained injuries," a local administrator declined to be quoted said.

Area provincial police Chief Philip Tuimur confirmed the killings but he did not offer further details.

On Monday, attackers believed to be from neighbouring Ethiopia shot and killed five people before escaping with heads of cattle.

Local Members of Parliament have condemned the incident and accused the government of laxity in providing security in the region.

The Monday attacks occurred at Banisa, about 200 kilometres from Mandera town.

The raid was blamed on members of the Garre community from Ethiopia who reportedly fled with more than 500 heads of cattle, according to complaints lodged with local administrators and police.

The Garre community lives both in Kenya and Ethiopia.

Those killed on Monday included three men, a woman and a six year old child who were all shot during the 8am attack.

Leaders from the region who addressed a press conference in Nairobi on Monday accused the government of failing to prevent the incident from occurring "despite having intelligence of the attack since last week."

Mandera Central MP Abdikadir Mohamed said they were not surprised the attacks took place since they have been dealing with the issue for the last eight months.

He appealed to the government and the people of Northern Kenya to work together to maintain.

"The government must take responsibility of safeguarding its people. It must take serious issues to do with safety and security of Kenyans especially when the attacks are from a neighbouring country," he told journalists at a press conference.

"We are also appealing to the people who live in those two areas. It's really in their interest to keep the peace because deaths don't help anybody," he emphasized.

Mohamed said they were most disappointed with the security forces in the area who had been unable to stop the Kenyan trained Ethiopian militia who are being used to destabilise Northern Kenya instead of fighting the war in Somalia.

"Militias that were trained by the Kenyan government are being utilised now to destabilise the region. It cannot be left to continue," he said.

Local leaders have expressed fears that as the country approaches the elections, the situation is bound to deteriorate unless appropriate measures are put in place.--

Attackers armed with machetes, bows and arrows and spears locked Kenyan villagers in their houses, set the structures alight and killed anyone who tried to escape, leaving at least 48 dead overnight, police and aid workers said.

The raid in Kenya's coastal region was part of a long-running dispute between the area's Pokomo and Orma groups over grazing land and water, said police.

"They were armed with crude weapons: machetes, bows and arrows and spears. Some had guns. As a result we have lost 31 women, 11 children and six men, all totalling 48," said area deputy police chief Robert Kitur.

A Kenyan Red Cross official, who asked not to be named, said they had counted 59 bodies, and the group had ferried more than 40 injured people to a hospital in Malindi town, 150 kilometres from the scene.

"Many of the injured are women and children with severe burns. Eleven have deep cuts on their heads and other body parts," the official said.

"I have counted seven with bullet wounds. We have tried to stabilise them, but honestly it will be a miracle if all of them arrive at hospital alive."

About 100 raiders from the Pokomo attacked Rekete village, inhabited by Ormas, late on Tuesday, said police.

The raid was in retaliation for an attack by Orma youths on Pokomo farmers which killed two people, officers added.

The long dispute between the two groups erupted after the farmers accused the pastoralists of grazing their cattle in their farms.

Cattle rustling and clashes over grazing and farming land are relatively common between communities in arid areas of east Africa and often escalate into revenge attacks.

Coast provincial commissioner Samuel Kilele said he had held a meeting with leaders from both groups last week which had appeared to resolve the dispute and he was shocked at the latest attacks.

"This is a case of our people who have decided to fight amongst themselves, and unless they decide to resolve themselves, there is little we can do," he said.

"It's risky even for me. I cannot go there as an administrator and am forced to co-ordinate from here," he added, speaking from his office in Mombasa.

In a separate overnight incident in north-eastern Kenya, five people died after cattle rustlers attacked a village in Mandera near Kenya's border with Somalia and Ethiopia.

Kenya Red Cross said 11 people, including a six-year old child, had died and scores had been wounded in that region over the past two days.

Similar clashes in January killed at least 21 in Kenya's north.

According to the provincial administration, an attack on Reketa Village on the night of 21 August left 31 women, 11 children and six men dead.

The injured have been admitted to the local Mpeketoni Hospital, many of them with severe burns and deep cuts.

Tana River, with a population of about 240,000 according to the 2009 census, is largely occupied by the Orma and Wardei pastoralist communities and the Pokomo farming community; the Orma and Pokomo have a history of conflict over grazing land, pasture and water.

"This seems to have been a revenge attack following last week's [burning] down of several villages in Kilelengwani and Kau villages, mostly inhabited by the Pokomo community," said Robert Kitur, deputy regional police commander.

"The [21 August] assailants, suspected to be Pokomo militiamen, also set ablaze over 100 houses and manyattas [settlements] besides killing several livestock belonging to the Orma community."

Local media reported attacks on the two villages of Kilelengwani and Kau on 13 August that left at least four people dead; reports say hundreds of cattle were killed during the clashes.

"Our officers are on the ground pursuing the attackers," Kitur said, although he could not confirm that any arrests had been made.

According to Sadik Kakai, head of disaster management for the Kenya Red Cross in Coast Province, more than 200 families from both communities are seeking refuge in nearby forests for fear of repeat attacks.

Following last week's attack, Coast Provincial Commissioner Samuel Kilele urged civilians in possession of illegal firearms to hand them over to the police; he also warned the warring communities of dire consequences should the fighting continue.

But local leaders have complained about the laxity with which security forces are addressing the issue.

"Even after being alerted of an imminent attack, like in last weeks' case, no measures were taken by the security organs to address the situation until destruction was done and lives lost," said Samir Ngolo, a civic leader and Tana River County Council chairman.

According to Guya Galgalo, a local resident, requests by locals for additional police posts have not been heeded. He also blamed local politicians for stoking conflict in the area.

"If you go by history, you will find that such incidents usually occur whenever we approach an election," he said.

"The reason behind it being to displace people in order to achieve a certain voting pattern that will favour particular politicians... The end result is always death and destruction."

While the incidents, which have resulted in mass displacement, take place amid a long-standing competition over resources, they are increasingly being triggered by political motives as well.

Revenge killings

In the latest incident in the northwest, five people in the Banissa area of Mandera District were shot dead on 26 August.

“The raiders were out on a revenge mission.

They raided our country from Ethiopia, killed five and crossed back,” said a local government official, who asked not to be identified.

According to the Kenya Red Cross, 12 people were killed in clashes in Banissa and nearby Rhamu earlier in August.

“At least 3,500 households have been internally displaced in Banissa and Rhamu.

The families have been forced to live in deplorable conditions without water, food, medicine and shelter,” the Red Cross said in a statement.

Red Cross spokeswoman Nelly Muluki said the total number of displaced was likely to be much higher.

“We are told many have moved far away to grazing fields they feel are safe,” she said.

“The displaced families have been forced to live in deplorable conditions without water, food, medicine and shelter…

The attacked communities have suffered destruction of property and shelter as a result of the clashes,” the statement added, noting that livestock had been stolen in large numbers during some of these incidents.

“The Rhamu District Hospital is strained with a shortage of medical supplies and medical personnel to manage the increasing casualties from clash-prone zones around the area. There has also been a lack of ambulances to carry out timely referrals of casualties to the Mandera District Hospital,” the Red Cross said, adding that many schools in Banissa had been vandalized.

Commercial activities in Mandera have also been affected and a curfew is in place.

"We have no more taxis, shops or hotels that operate at night. We are losing a lot of money. Insecurity has affected many of us. We can't afford to sustain our families," said Mukhtar, a Mandera taxi driver.

Some civil servants have fled the area. “I am now in Wajir. I arrived on Sunday [August 26] from Mandera after being threatened. Many civil servants, including health workers and technical staff, have left Mandera,” one civil servant told IRIN.

Some of the villages in the Mandera North and Banissa areas have also been deserted.

The Wajir area itself has itself not escaped the violence, with clashes between Garrey and Degodia communities on 23 August leading to the destruction of property and the displacement of almost 100 households to a temporary camp at the local police station.

Tensions high

Meanwhile, tension remains high in the coastal area near the site of the of 21 August killings. Some 600 households from the pastoralist Orma community remain displaced from the area for fear of a new attack, according to County Chairman Salim Golo.

"We are worried by the heavy presence of Pokomo fighters. They are camping at an island in Tana River. We have informed the administration and the police, but it's sad no action has been taken,” he said.

Hundreds of people have been displaced after a recent massacre of 52 people in the coastal Tana River District
A team of government doctors and Red Cross personnel visited one makeshift camp in the area and found “there was no standing shelter or pit latrine.

The IDPs had no food and had to feed on coconuts solely.

The children were quite exposed to the cold weather and had to sleep on the wet and swampy terrain with no warm clothing.”

The team delivered plastic sheeting, collapsible jerricans, mosquito nets, soaps, water purifiers, kitchen sets, rice, cooking oil and beans.

Speaking after the Tana River killings, Red Cross Secretary General Abbas Gullet said

more than 200 people had lost their lives during clashes between communities since the start of the year, a phenomenon he linked to general elections scheduled for March 2013.

"Our country was rocked by pre-election induced violence in 1992, 1997 and 2002.

In 2008, we experienced the worst post-election violence.

It’s clear we have not learned or made any commitment to end this pattern of political-related violence, killings, suffering and loss of properties,” he said.

“As we continue for the next six to seven months before the election it is clear that this pattern will continue unless something is done drastically, now and not tomorrow,” he warned, calling for the speedy prosecution of those orchestrating the violence.

Politics and scarcity fuel violence

Since a new constitution was passed in 2010, considerable political power and associated financial resources have been devolved from the capital to Kenya’s regions in the form of positions in newly-created administrative areas.

“While the violence appears on the surface to be a long-standing conflict driven by competition for resources such as water and pasture, there is evidence to suggest the killings have a political component related to redrawing of political boundaries and next year's general elections,” Aeneas, Chuma, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Kenya said in a recent statement.

Still, other, more long-standing and less localized drivers of conflict should not be discounted entirely, according to Choice Okoro-Oloyede, outreach and advocacy officer at the East Africa branch of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, a partner in the multi-agency Security in Mobility initiative.

“Pastoralists communities across the Horn of Africa have become regions of low-intensity conflict, begging for sustainable and sustained conflict-prevention interventions,” she told IRIN.

“Kenya’s regional positioning makes it particularly vulnerable.

Cattle rustling incidents have increased in the region as owners seek to restock herds badly affected by the recurrent searing droughts.

The country’s geographical positioning places it squarely at the epicentre of pastoralists’ resource-based conflict in the Horn of Africa,” said Okoro-Oloyede.

“Depleted livestock, limited pasture, and water from the cumulative effect of cyclic drought, and the availability of small arms are conditions that have seen an increase in pastoralists’ cross-border movement in search of pasture and water in ways that are triggering violent armed cross-border conflict,” she said.

In 2011, for example, 370 conflict-related deaths were recorded in the drought-affected areas of north-eastern Kenya.

A majority of those affected were pastoralists caught up in ethnic clashes over livestock and pasture.

In 2010, 179 such deaths were recorded.

“Freedom and flexibility of movement within national borders and beyond is essential to the viability of mobile pastoralism - more so in the face of climate change,” said Okoro-Oloyede.

“However, much evidence points to mobility being restricted on various grounds, increasing pastoralists’ inability to minimize risks and cope with climatic and other shocks. Administration borders are being drawn without bearing in mind pastoralists’ mobility needs, leading to conflict and insecurity.

Consequently, pastoralists are increasingly being pushed to the periphery as other livelihood systems encroach on their land,” she said.

During the national conference on Youth and Peaceful Elections held in Nairobi on August 7-8, I made a presentation on how the country must get it right this time round.

Based on the successful 2010 referendum on constitution, rollout of a national peace initiatives and a promising electoral commission, I was convinced that Kenya will never again suffer the kind of mayhem witnessed in 2007/2008.

However, last week’s conflicts in Moyale, Mandera, Wajir, Tana River and Mombasa this week have forced me to re-think my conclusion during the youth conference.

All indications are that the likelihood of election violence in Kenya come the next General Election is high.

This eruption of clashes with heavy political undertones is a testimony to the fact that unresolved post-election violence grievances are likely to precipitate conflicts during the next elections.

Security sector reforms have not moved beyond boardroom meetings. From what happened in Mandera, Tana River and Mombasa, the police are still ill-prepared to deal with tribal and political violence.

What is also worrying is the request by Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission that it will require 90,000 police officers to man the polling and tallying centres during the next elections.

Although the Police Commissioner assured Kenyans during the National Conference on Peaceful Elections that the law allowed him to mobilise officers from the other disciplined forces like the Prisons and Kenya Wildlife Service to fill the gap, my take is that with high numbers of police officers manning polling stations, the force will be overwhelmed in case of violence.

The recent clashes during the political parties’ nominations for the coming by-elections are other indicators that we have learned little or nothing from the poll violence.

Add the recent attacks on former Prime Minister’s aide Miguna Miguna during his countrywide marketing of his controversial book and the warning signs are ominous.

If Miguna could be roughed up in the presence of police officers and in high-end hotels, what may happen to ordinary Kenyans during the electioneering period?

The Police Commissioner should also think of deploying police reservists to arid areas.

With proper equipment, incentives and supervision, the reservists can prevent or manage violence in those areas.

The electoral commission must save us from another poll violence by delivering credible elections. For Kenyans, peace starts with us as individuals.

Villagers responded to the man's cries for help and rescued him from the hyena.

Red Cross officials yesterday said the old man is in stable condition.

They said the number of internally displaced persons at the camp has overwhelmed available resources.

The people were displaced by the recent conflict between the Garre and Borana communities in southern Ethiopia.

Mr Awaye Boru of Moyale red cross told the press that the families most of them women and children were spending in cold putting their life at risk of marauding wild animal attack and disease.

He said they had given the displaced families food, water and medical supplies.

Red Cross yesterday put up 14 pit latrines around the camps to prevent an outbreak of diseases.

An official said they need more water, toilets food and tents.

Abubakar Sadik accused the Kenyan government of neglecting them.

He said the government has not given them food since they were displaced a month ago.

The families are homeless as their houses were razed in the clashes.

They asked the government to resettle them and provide them with some basic needs.

“The government should take responsibility for abdicating its constitutional duty to protect citizen's lives and property,” Sadik said. Marsabit county commissioner Isaih Nakoru said the families have been advised to go back to their homes since the situation is under control. "Those claiming to be IDPs are out to take advantage of well wishers," said the commissioner.