Photo/FILE Displaced families at Nyangore in Muhoroni on February 26, 2012 following clashes between the Kalenjin and Luo communities over a cattle raid.
By OTIENO OWIDA otienoowida@yahoo.com AND BERNARD NAMUNANE bnamunane@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Sunday, March 4 2012 at 22:30
Posted Sunday, March 4 2012 at 22:30
Police are pursuing leads linking two MPs and veteran politicians with recent clashes on the border of Nandi and Muhoroni districts in which five people were killed.
Police sources, who declined to be named since the investigations have not been concluded, said the two MPs and the veteran politicians held meetings with the youth in the areas that were affected by the clashes before the violence erupted.
The violence rocked parts of Tinderet, Aldai and Muhoroni constituencies over alleged cattle rustling incidents between two communities. On Sunday, Internal Security assistant minister Orwa Ojode confirmed that the investigations were nearly complete and were pointing to politicians.
“The investigations are being done and we are almost getting to the root cause. It was alleged that it was just a cattle rustling incident, but there is more than meets the eye,” he said phone.
The clashes, which erupted two weeks ago, displaced more than 1,000 people along the border of Rift Valley and Nyanza provinces, required the intervention of the General Service Unit (GSU) to end them.
Sugarcane farms razed
The violence, in addition to displacing people from their homes, also saw fires sweeping through hundreds of acres of sugarcane, including that of the late former Agriculture minister Odongo Omamo.
East African Community permanent secretary David Nalo lost 18 dairy cattle while more than 40 houses were torched.
Pictures of youths with arrows, bows, spears, machettes and other crude weapons amid burning houses and fleeing children reminded the country of the 2008 post election violence.
During the chaos politicians were quick to point fingers at their rivals, accusing them of attempting to divide the communities along ethnic lines for their personal political gains.
But to the community, this was neither an ordinary conflict brought about by political incitement as has been in 1992, 1997 and 2002 which were election years, nor a result of cattle rustling.
At the weekend, police sources said the two MPs and the veteran politicians were seen addressing gatherings of youths in areas close to Chemase before the cattle rustling incident which triggered the violence happened.
Local residents told the Nation that they were shocked with the spate of the escalating violence which they noted in normal circumstances could not go far once the stolen cattle were returned to the owners.
They accused a wealthy businessman of transporting hundreds of youths armed with arrows to cause mayhem in the area.
Muhoroni MP Prof Ayiecho Olweny dismissed the violence as land clashes, saying that the two communities have been living in harmony over the years and can’t engage in a full blast war over “a small matter like stolen cattle”.
Belgut MP Charles Keter dismissed the allegation that the clashes were politically motivated and challenged those with information to record statements with the police.
He said the cattle that were stolen and triggered the clashes should be handed over to the owners.
“This was fundamentally a cattle rustling incident and the cattle that was stolen should be brought back. There are those who are saying it was politically motivated. We want them to pass over the information they have to the police,” he said.
Mr Ojode said the government was determined to assure all Kenyans of their safety and warned that they will not hesitate to arrest any leader found inciting the public into violence.
He was categorical that those who will be mentioned in the police investigations report will be arrested.
“We will not spare any politician who is out to incite violence regardless of their status in the society. Once the report is out, you will see people being arrested, both leaders and those who were used to fight,” he said.
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