Peace is matter of survival

Preventing conflicts is the highest priority of the District Commissioner in Marsabit

By Morten Bonde Pedersen

22. November 2007

He is clearly a man of authority, the District Commissioner (DC), in uniform carrying a pistol in his belt seated at the end of his office table underneath the photo of the president of the Republic of Kenya.

Njenga Miiri has been a DC in Marsabit since April. During his few months in office he has had plenty of opportunities to make use of his authority when rivaling tribes have created tensions and conflicts.

The meeting has been called in an attempt to prevent violent clashes. For some time the two communities have been arguing over land for grazing. Tensions have built up, and the DC fears violent clashes will erupt if the rivaling pastoralists are not required to exchange views under the conciliation of an independent third party.

“To a large extend it is a matter of making them talk to avoid the barrel of the gun. When they get together tempers will often be high and they will come up with all kinds of insults against each other. We have asked them to arrive at the scene of the meeting the evening before so they have time for the initial offenses before we enter. When we get there, tempers will most likely have calmed down and the two parties will institute a positive dialogue,” tells the DC clearly indicating that he speaks facts although on a humoristic note.

Even though the DC plays a major role in establishing peace Njenga Miiri himself is usually not the one to come up with solutions to disagreements.

“Usually the communities themselves are aware of the causes of the conflicts and the solutions. Most quarrels arise when members of one community transgress into neighboring pastures. In those cases both parties know who is on foreign territory. If only they get to talk they will come to an agreement more often than not.”

Peace meetings can last a whole day or two and involve dozens of community members plus the DC and his staff. However setting up such meetings is usually a good investment.

“Often the only alternative to dialogue is armed conflict, and that is where the real price will be paid. From our side we will have to send security personnel to those remote areas. That is costly in it self, but of course the real cost is on the communities since they will have to invest in buying weapons and spend their time fighting. Lives will be lost and both parties will loose.”

In fact working for peace has been the main activity of the DC so far. But the many hours spent in dialogue with community members have been worth the effort:

“Avoiding conflicts and building peace is very important. Peace is simply a matter of survival. It is a precondition for fighting poverty in this district. As long as there are conflicts investors will stay away,” the DC explains emphasizing that for the time being peace building must be the local priority of the government.

“Some criticize the government for spending too many resources on peace building in stead of investing in infrastructure and services. But as long as there are conflicts, economic investments may well be very short term. We have seen water points, schools and health clinics being abandoned because of conflicts,” says the DC who is about to take of for a peace meeting between two tribes in a village outside of Marsabit town.

The meeting has been called in an attempt to prevent violent clashes. For some time the two communities have been arguing over land for grazing. Tensions have built up, and the DC fears violent clashes will erupt if the rivaling pastoralists are not required to exchange views under the conciliation of an independent third party.

“To a large extend it is a matter of making them talk to avoid the barrel of the gun. When they get together tempers will often be high and they will come up with all kinds of insults against each other. We have asked them to arrive at the scene of the meeting the evening before so they have time for the initial offenses before we enter. When we get there, tempers will most likely have calmed down and the two parties will institute a positive dialogue,” tells the DC clearly indicating that he speaks facts although on a humoristic note.

Even though the DC plays a major role in establishing peace Njenga Miiri himself is usually not the one to come up with solutions to disagreements.

“Usually the communities themselves are aware of the causes of the conflicts and the solutions. Most quarrels arise when members of one community transgress into neighboring pastures. In those cases both parties know who is on foreign territory. If only they get to talk they will come to an agreement more often than not.”

Peace meetings can last a whole day or two and involve dozens of community members plus the DC and his staff. However setting up such meetings is usually a good investment.

“Often the only alternative to dialogue is armed conflict, and that is where the real price will be paid. From our side we will have to send security personnel to those remote areas. That is costly in it self, but of course the real cost is on the communities since they will have to invest in buying weapons and spend their time fighting. Lives will be lost and both parties will loose.”

 

Read about the peace meeting which DC Njenga Miiri is heading for.