GHARRI (GARRE) WAA LACAG RAADIS, DHIIG RAADIS

THE GARRE - GHARRI COMMUNITY NEEDS TO CO-EXIST WITH ALL COMMUNITIES IN MANDERA COUNTY

SUMMARY :

- The Garre and Murule clans were considered the “resident clans”. This changed after careful analysis of the Colonial records and past histories. 

- The Garre Community have animosity with almost all communities in Mandera, Wajir and Marsabit Counties.

- The Garre (Gharri) Fought with Murule Community Several times in the past including the Infamous 1982- 1983 'Colki Maqan' in which Garre took 4,000 Murule Camels in anticipation that it will end properly only to lose all their warriors...

- There were several Peace Agreements - The Maslaha System between Murule and Gharri Communities and eveytime, The Gharri Community breaches it. For Example, THE INTER CLAN PEACE DIALOGUE MEETING BETWEEN THE GARREH AND MURULLE COMMUNITY AT AIR TIME RESORT OF MANDERA EAST DISTRICT 12TH TO 15TH JULY 2008 contained the following issues :

After lengthy consultation the communities and clan elders agreed to deliberate on the following key issue. 

a) Sustainable peace between the two communities. 

b) The border between mandera east and mandera central district to be clearly identified. 

c) Implementation of the gare-murrule peace accord of 2005.

 - The Garres have had clashes with Degodia Community both in Mandera County as Well as Wajir County

- The Garre fought with Marehaan Community in Mandera region several times 

- The Garres have fought with Boran Community in Marsabit County as well as Ajuuraan in Wajir County.

- The Gharri Community is allegedly been supporting AlShabaab in Mandera County through Proxies to create a culture of impunity, fear and terrorism and to make sure other communities live in fear. 

BACKGROUND

Mandera County is in Northern Kenya and the upper most tip bordering Somalia as well as Ethiopia. 

Mandera has been prone to clashes ever since the first Colonial administration arrived. That was back in 1915. In 2020 July, The Same Garre Community still is instigating new tensions in Mandera County where many ethnic communities live. 

Several attempts to create a peaceful co-existence has been propped up inclusing the Famous UMUL ACCORD between Murule and the Gharri Communities back in 2008. A copy is available  here https://css.ethz.ch/content/dam/ethz/special-interest/gess/cis/center-for-securities-studies/pdfs/THE%20UMUL%20ACCORD%20Mandera%202005%20and%202008.pdf

As recent as 2018, a deadly conflict involving two Somali clans, Degodia and Garre, has been raging in Mandera County in North Eastern Kenya. While clan conflicts are not new to the area, the intensity of the latest flare up (including deliberate targeting of children and women in violation of Somali social norms in clan wars) raises fundamental questions about the newly devolved system of county governance and its impact on conflict dynamics and peacebuilding architecture in northern Kenya. The Mandera conflict comes on the heels of another conflict in neighbouring Marsabit in early 2014. The control of large budgets and political influence that comes with parliamentary and county government posts has turned competitive politics in the region into a zero sum game. The indigenous conflict management mechanisms have neither the experience nor the capacity to deal with political conflicts. The new county governments and the political and economic largesse that comes with them are, if not managed equitably, likely to further exacerbate existing conflicts in the poor and conflict-prone counties of northern Kenya.

The below clip show the extent of Garre (Gharri) community showing hatred of Somali Communities living in Mandera county.  The Clip above is showing the new tensions of Yetho Wanteey in Alungu Ward under Lafey Constituency. This must stop for co-existence otherwise it will end up in a very fatal way. 

The Degodia and Garre, (sometime read as Gharri )clans have a long history of conflict and violence that are documented even in colonial records. The current conflict, however, began in 2008 following the election of Abdikadir Mohamed from the Degodia clan as the Member of Parliament for Mandera Central Constituency. Mr Mohamed unseated Billow Kerow (current senator for Mandera county) from the Garre clan, the majority clan in Mandera and previous occupants of this seat. This election result had wider ramifications on the politics of Mandera: political domination of the Garre clan was broken; and the political presence of the Degodia clan was felt.

This win-lose mentality is rooted in a “resident-migrant” dynamic that has shaped politics in Mandera for a long time. The Garre and Murule clans were considered the “resident clans” and the rest of the Somali clans, due to their “minority” or “migrant status” (the Degodia are neither of these), were clustered into an alliance called “corner tribes”. This distinction had a major influence on the conduct of politics in the area: the “resident clans” have historically won the parliamentary seats (two for Garre and one for Murule) and the majority of the local council seats. The election of Abdikadir Mohamed (Degodia) as the Member of Parliament for Mandera Central Constituency in the 2007 election was seen to be going against this unwritten rule.

The Garre -Gharri Community have never been in Mandera County alone nor were they the majority community until the issue of Devolution came and based on Populations from wajir and Marsabit, took the Governor.  This has led to escalation and renewed skirmishes.

The conflict systems in the region are further complicated by the emergence of new forms of conflict such as terrorism and the problem of radicalisation. The Mandera conflict comes at a time when the attention of the Kenyan state is focused on countering terror attacks from the Somali-based terror group, Al-Shabaab. Clan clashes and communal violence are treated as secondary issues by the security forces, as shown by their slow response to the Mandera clashes. 

Recently they had very big skirmishes with the Degodia Community in Rhamu and Banissa areas and now they want to instigate new clashes in Yetho - A murule Community grassland....in Lafey Constituency.

 

The Garre Community always like to create tensions and Clashes in all places they are resident. The First clashes between Murule and Garre was back in 1915.