That
the Tana Delta is on fire is an indictment of the machinery of
government for a century of official exploitation and neglect, no matter
how counter-intuitive that thought seems. Since the Imperial British
East Africa Co. entered into an arrangement with the Sultan of Zanzibar,
the peoples of the East African coast have been exploited without
mercy. Through the life of the Colonial Government and especially after
Independence, the Coast has seen its share of tragedies, none worse than
the total disenfranchisement of its peoples and the their relegation to
the ranks of the underprivileged classes that Official Kenya wishes did
not exist. The peoples of the Coast, including those of the Tana Delta,
have been betrayed by every single elected representative they have had
since 1963, and with the arrest of Dhadho Godana on charges of
incitement to violence, that record remains unblemished.
For a month keen observers of the situation on the ground have warned that the conflict between the Pokomo and the Orma was heading for a violent denouement. Ever since the government approved the massive land-grab by TARDA and Mumias Sugar, it was just a matter of time before climate change-related drought ensured that arable farmland and grazing land shrunk leading to conflict between the agrarian Pokomo and pastoralist Orma. Either the security apparatus on the ground failed to appreciate the signs or the powers-that-be in Nairobi simply did not care. After all, the security situation in Kenya was evolving into ever complicated forms: Operation Linda Nchi was being muscularly prosecuted in Somalia, the Mombasa Republican Council had gotten one over the government in the Mombasa High Court and an al Shabaab-sympathising Islamist cleric had been assassinated in front of his wife and children, leading to riots in Kenya's number 1 tourist destination, Mombasa. The troubles of the tana Delta thathad been simmering for at least a decade were small potatoes compared to the other security crisis occupying the minds of mandarins in the Office of the President.
Even the leading national politicians refused to acknowledge publicly that the Tana Delta was tinder box awaiting a match. Not one of them saw fit to describe what a solution would like if they were elected president. Instead, they only saw fit to encourage the bad blood among the elected representatives of the Coast to behave like storm-troopers in their desire to secure the loyalty of those who mattered in the Coast. The parades and rallies national politicians have headlined in the Tana Delta have encouraged the animosities between the Orma and the Pokomo. The proof is in the deaths of over 100 Kenyans murdered, 12,000 displaced and villages on fire. Whoever ignores the echoes of 2007/08 and the clashes that came before gives credence to the residents of the Tana's claim that "wabara hawajali malsahi yetu".
Even with his latest order to deploy additional security officers in the Tana Delta, Mwai Kibaki and his government are still viewed with suspicion. After all the arrested MP was an Assistant Minister in his government while the Minister for Internal Security and Provincial Administration is alleged to have downplayed the risks because the pastoralist Orma are "his people". Even with the presence of over 2,000 security officers, including a contingent of the dreaded General Service Unit, Kenyans continue to die in the Tana Delta. Those calling for the deployment of the army seem to have lost all faith in the police and some politicians are taking advantage of this situation to agitate for the hastening of the implementation of the police reforms; William Ruto is a vocal example.
Today, there are Kenyans being murdered just as they were murdered in the past in the run up to the general election. The politicians are busy campaigning for elective office to the total exclusion of all else. The government, that is the Executive, is busy managing the national security environment by focusing on events that have broader national security implications rather than those of a localised nature that have been there for years. Who doubts that the conflict in the Turner will be contained in the Tana? The punditocracy is determined to paint all players in this deadly episode with the same brush. Their commentary and news reporting is determined to expose the hopelessness of the situation because the machinery of government is ineffective. Their hypocritical statements hide the fact that they are enamoured of the men and women campaigning for high office and that the suffering residents of the Tana Delta are a bloody background to the political campaigns. Doubtless, as with everything else,their attention will wane and they will move on to another story and the conflict between the Pokomo and Orma will be but a footnote of history.
For a month keen observers of the situation on the ground have warned that the conflict between the Pokomo and the Orma was heading for a violent denouement. Ever since the government approved the massive land-grab by TARDA and Mumias Sugar, it was just a matter of time before climate change-related drought ensured that arable farmland and grazing land shrunk leading to conflict between the agrarian Pokomo and pastoralist Orma. Either the security apparatus on the ground failed to appreciate the signs or the powers-that-be in Nairobi simply did not care. After all, the security situation in Kenya was evolving into ever complicated forms: Operation Linda Nchi was being muscularly prosecuted in Somalia, the Mombasa Republican Council had gotten one over the government in the Mombasa High Court and an al Shabaab-sympathising Islamist cleric had been assassinated in front of his wife and children, leading to riots in Kenya's number 1 tourist destination, Mombasa. The troubles of the tana Delta thathad been simmering for at least a decade were small potatoes compared to the other security crisis occupying the minds of mandarins in the Office of the President.
Even the leading national politicians refused to acknowledge publicly that the Tana Delta was tinder box awaiting a match. Not one of them saw fit to describe what a solution would like if they were elected president. Instead, they only saw fit to encourage the bad blood among the elected representatives of the Coast to behave like storm-troopers in their desire to secure the loyalty of those who mattered in the Coast. The parades and rallies national politicians have headlined in the Tana Delta have encouraged the animosities between the Orma and the Pokomo. The proof is in the deaths of over 100 Kenyans murdered, 12,000 displaced and villages on fire. Whoever ignores the echoes of 2007/08 and the clashes that came before gives credence to the residents of the Tana's claim that "wabara hawajali malsahi yetu".
Even with his latest order to deploy additional security officers in the Tana Delta, Mwai Kibaki and his government are still viewed with suspicion. After all the arrested MP was an Assistant Minister in his government while the Minister for Internal Security and Provincial Administration is alleged to have downplayed the risks because the pastoralist Orma are "his people". Even with the presence of over 2,000 security officers, including a contingent of the dreaded General Service Unit, Kenyans continue to die in the Tana Delta. Those calling for the deployment of the army seem to have lost all faith in the police and some politicians are taking advantage of this situation to agitate for the hastening of the implementation of the police reforms; William Ruto is a vocal example.
Today, there are Kenyans being murdered just as they were murdered in the past in the run up to the general election. The politicians are busy campaigning for elective office to the total exclusion of all else. The government, that is the Executive, is busy managing the national security environment by focusing on events that have broader national security implications rather than those of a localised nature that have been there for years. Who doubts that the conflict in the Turner will be contained in the Tana? The punditocracy is determined to paint all players in this deadly episode with the same brush. Their commentary and news reporting is determined to expose the hopelessness of the situation because the machinery of government is ineffective. Their hypocritical statements hide the fact that they are enamoured of the men and women campaigning for high office and that the suffering residents of the Tana Delta are a bloody background to the political campaigns. Doubtless, as with everything else,their attention will wane and they will move on to another story and the conflict between the Pokomo and Orma will be but a footnote of history.
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