MOMBASA (Halbeeg News) – The conflict between Somali herders and the local Giriama community over pasture is simmering for years despite efforts to quell the hostility.
Several deadly clashes between the two have robbed lives of dozens of people from both sides.
With the locals claiming that the herders invade their farms illegally, the herders on the other hand claim that they pay chiefs and their assistants to be allowed to graze in their lands.
Somali community has been taking their herds to the coast regions for decades after securing permission from the local authorities who allegedly take money from the pastoralists
Giriama elders accused the local administration of bringing the herders without consulting them.
The residents said the administrators renewed a lease agreement with the pastoralists for two more months, despite calls to terminate the contract.
The move reportedly escalated hostility between Somalis and the local community leading cross-border attacks.
In an interview with Daily Nation, Mr. Jumwa Mwambogo, a victim of a recent clash between the sides said the pastoralists have brought a lot of suffering to the people of Bamba.
“When I tried to ask them why they were grazing on my land, one of them attacked me. I pushed him to the ground,” he said.
Mr. Mwambogo, 45, says he is lucky to be alive.
“They would have killed me were it not for my brother who was nearby,” the father of three said.
The local residents say the dispute has been raging for more than 40 years where the successive governments’ intervention seem far from succeeding.
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