NANYUKI(Halbeeg News)-Elders from Somali and Borana communities have inked a peace agreement to bury the hatchet.
The two communities have been engaging in deadly clan clashes that left hundreds dead and displaced thousands in upper part of former Northeastern, Eastern and Coast regions of Kenya.
The peace deal brokered by the government of Kenya is expected to end hostilities and bring back in peaceful coexistence between the two communities.
In a two-day workshop at Nanyuki hotel in Nanyuki town the sides penned the deal.
It brought together 50 elders from both communities and convened by administrators from Isiolo and Garissa counties.
The workshop came up with numerous peace measures, including a ceasefire between the two communities and return of all stolen livestock from Lagdera and Garbatulla along the Isiolo-Garissa border.
Other resolutions included resettlement of IDPs camping at Eldere trading centre, resolving the boundary dispute, confiscating illegal firearms and arresting the instigators of violence on both sides.
Garissa county commissioner Joshua Chepchieng, who co-convened the workshop with his Isiolo counterpart John Ondego, said the conflict has claimed five lives and displaced hundreds of people in the last three months alone.
We are happy that the two communities have resolved to live peacefully and end hostilities,” Chepchieng said.
Ondego said that the government would immediately start mopping up all illegally held firearms to ensure violence does not recur.
According to The Star, Somo Roba, an leader of the Borana community, asked the Somali community to respect the peace accord and pledged his commitment to its full implementation.
Hamud Sheikh Mohamed, a Somali community leader, said that elders from both sides would regularly hold discussions to determine grazing rights and prevent conflicts over pasture.
Discussion about this post