Sunday, September 9, 2012

Peace meeting underway in Tana River



Written By:Irene Muchuma/Margaret Kalekye,    Posted: Sat, Sep 08, 2012
Security remains tight in the area
A high profiled security meeting is underway in Tana River where 12 people were killed in renewed ethnic clashes. 
Tana River County Commissioner Joseph Rotich is leading Garsen, MP Danson Mungatana and top security officers  from the coast region in a closed door meeting  aimed at quelling the rising tensions in the area.
A heavy contingent of GSU personnel has since been deployed to the region to restore calm.  
12 people died in the Friday morning clashes between Orma and Pokomo communities at Chamwana Muma village in Tana Delta.
The dead included 8 men, two women and a minor while the twelfth victim succumbed to his injuries at the Malindi district hospital.
The  raiders moved to the village at 5.30 am with firearms and shot at locals indiscriminately in what is believed to be revenge attacks following the killing of 52 people two weeks ago.
The Orma and Pokomo communities have a long history of tension over access to land and water. The Pokomo are mostly farmers, while the Orma are semi-nomadic cattle-herders.
In the latest incident,  70 houses razed down with the raiders making  away with over 700 animals, leaving the village in shock and despair as survivors struggle to bury their loved ones, neighbors' and friends in a mass grave.
Residents told journalists that  attackers were wearing military uniforms and carrying "sophisticated weapons".
They said five men, six women and a child had been killed. "It was this morning at 6 o'clock when armed men in full gear of army clothes surrounded Chamwanamuna village and started shooting," Timson Maneno told BBC.
"They surrounded the whole village so villagers could not go out anywhere - and when people started running here and there they started burning the houses."
He said police posted in the nearby village of Semikaro then arrived on the scene, shooting and creating a space for the villagers to escape.
Kenya Red Cross Society Officials are already on the ground supporting those affected with basic needs.

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