County Government of Laikipia

There is no development without peace. This is the unanimous agreement that dominated the two-day peace meeting organized by Indigenous Movement for Peace Advancement and Conflict Transformation (IMPACT) in Nanyuki.

The meeting that brought actors from six counties that have experienced constant conflict, sought to enable all to embrace peace as a tool for development. These counties are Laikipia, Marsabit, Isiolo, Samburu, Turkana and Baringo.

Themed Nurturing peace through inter-county community dialogue for a better tomorrow the meeting involved all the parties from national government representatives and county representatives to the members of the communities who have experienced the wrath of conflict.

Conflict from these counties, whose economy greatly involves pastoralism, mainly comes from fighting over the scarce resources of pasture and water. However, these were discovered to be just an iceberg of what really goes on. These members discussed at length what has been ailing them and sought to bring a lasting peace solution.

Among the suggestions for solving this is to have political goodwill expressed by the leaders. There need to be no more blame games as to who has been the cause of conflict, rather moving forward it is about taking responsibilities to ensure peace prevails. Many have lost their loved ones while they had gone to steal livestock from their communities and counties. Some have been seen to have no value for human life as they kill to take away their animals.

It was established that it is not a community that steals from others, rather they are organized criminals groups who strive to tarnish the name of an entire community. To disassociate with such, the rest of the community must take charge and report these people and ensure the stolen livestock get back to their owners. The elders must also take charge and direct the youth on the need to respect other people's property.

Need for embracing formal education also dominated as one of the strategies to ensure peace in the long run. It is unfair to subject children to only knowing how to graze animals in the forest. The communities must also embrace the alternative source of economic activities.

Adopting feedlot system and Nomadic pastoralism has become a challenge owing to the increased human population and more land dedicated to housing and industrialization.

Through a good negotiation with the elders and grazing committees, people from a different county can take their animals to another county until there is enough pasture in their area. For example, Isiolo county is currently hosting livestock from neighboring counties like Baringo, Samburu, Marsabit, and Laikipia.