Beesha Murule Weeytaan Jidle Gugundhabe Hawiye Irir Samaale(Somali) are an indegenious somali clan that inhabits Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia Somali Region as well in many diaspora like Djibouti, Somaliland. The Community is an Original Somali clan having descended from IRIR SAMAALE, The Son of Samaale, sometimes pronounced as SOMALI. Murule live in Herer Region of Ethiopia, Mustaxiil Region, Godeey, Hiiraan, Mandera, Bakool as well as Jubaland. This is a blog about them. dalahow@gmail.com
As per Official Estimates, Mandera County has a population of 1.1 million people, mainly ethnic Somalis categorised into four clan groupings. These are the Garre, the Murulle and the Degodia clans, as well as the “Corner Tribes,” a grouping of the smaller clans. After Somalia’s collapse in 1991, a sizable population of the Marehan clan from Somalia also arrived in Mandera and has been seeking protections and resettlement. Many clans like Murules have intermarried with Marehan and therefore are part and parcel of Mandera County.
For ages, elders in Mandera have largely been the ones making political decisions on behalf of the people and determining who vies for crucial positions during elections. But this is bound to change as youths in the county now seek to bring a different narrative by supporting their own in the next General Elections.
In a bid to change the political landscape, a group of young people drawn from different clans and sub-clans residing within and without Mandera County are fronting and spearheading new plans for Mandera Gubernatorial seat in 2022.
The Garre clan, being the majority in Mandera county in terms of clan affiliations, are normally left to take the gubernatorial seat against the other three clans. The Garre Community is viewed differently as not pure somalis and this always plays out in Mandera.
But that is coming to an end if we follow the startegies being deployed towards 2022.
Two of the clans, Murule and Degodia along with 'other somalis' are planning to overthrow Garre dominance in Mandera County Government and installing one of them. They are also planning to share seats with other clans to destroy the 'dominance' of Garres in the County Government.
Those Eyeing the Gubernatorial Seat come from Murule Clan as well as Degodia and their combined votes including other somalis will trounce the Garre votes in Mandera County.
Turn the tide
In an exclusive interview with the Clans representatives and Youth of The said Mandera clans, they say time is ripe for the tide to be turned against the norm in Mandera county. They accuse Garre of completely disregarding appointment of County Administration and misappropriation of County Resources.
Mandera County gets Ksh 10,000,000,000 (Ten Billion) approx $100 Million Each year and no tangible Infrastructure has been built for the past 7 years. infact, it is rumoured that County Administrators have created many Millionaires within a short time.
The Clans youthful movement has since formed a secretariat in every clan and have already informed most of their elders about the intention of the near future. The Elections of Kenya are slated in 2022. The Youth, aim to involve their Elders to now plan several conference aimed at discussing how to ensure their impact is felt.
They are planning to sit and discuss on these issues as we progress to 2022.
The clans says the Garre County administartion and their political elites and elders in the county have always overlooked them in spite of their numerical strength in terms of votes.
According to clans, they can easily trounce and get the Gubernatorial seat while reserving the Senate to the Garre Community. They can share other spoils of the election between other clans.
Already The Garre Council of Elders have plans to back for governorship between Senator Mohamed Maalim Mohamud, County Assembly Speaker Mohamed Khalif, Mr Feisal Abdirahman, Mr Yussuf Mohamed Issack alias Yusuf Rafiki and Education CAS Hassan Noor Hassan.
“The competition is open and anyone is free to declare his candidature. We shall only declare what shall be brought to us from the sub-clan level,” said Mr Yussuf Alinur, the chairman of the Garre elders' council.
One Aspirant from the Degodia Community recently told us, The Garre Chairman, doesn't even mention the Competition other clans in Mandera can pose to their Gubernatorial plans. That is like giving themselves the seat.
ELWAK - LAFEY AREA ISSUES : Border Demarcation at Elwak Police Station.
This week a lot has happened in Lafey and Elwak subcounties in Mandera County and the government of Kenya, i think must be aware of, has not said anything. It is a high time, they sought these issues.
The Garre Community has been assaulting Murule Community from time immemorial and the repercussions are dire. One instances is the Elgolicha Massacre which Murule Community carried out an attack to stop Garre's Assault in Elwak Area where 25 Garre people were massacred in 2005 and 1,500 families flee from that area. It was a headline news.
Police later said the incident appeared to have been a revenge attack by MURULE clan against GARRE for an earlier raid.
This week, However, The same is happening. Murule herdsmen and women in around Garre-Murule Border at the Elwak - Wargadud Road, in one instances raping a Murule Girl tending to her animals near Haresuku along the Elwak Wargadud Road, this week.
This happened after Garre Community, with it's Militia that also works with Terrorists in Alungu, Lafey and Arabia Wards and near Elwak Border has beaten another Murule Herdsman, an old man trying to find his stolen camel, which are said to be inside Garre Territory.
Garres have a history of stealing Camels. The Video below is Camels stolen from Degodia Community in 1964.
Again This week, another man, a servant of Murule Community, tending to some animals was almost killed by the Garre Community and still managed to escape.
All these is done and the Murule Community is still pursuing Peace. The Government of Kenya talks about Peace when Murule acts but does nothing when Garre are asaaulting Murule. Our Murule Elders keeps talking about Peace when there are Garre Refugees from Elwak Somalia who have settled in Yetho, Wanteey, Qurqura, Elgolicha and Haresuku Areas -all of which are Murule Grazing lands.
We urge the Government of Kenya to deal with these Garre Militia that also acts as ALSHABAAB proxies within Mandera County or we deal with them once and for all. They made sure that Elwak-Lafey-Mandera unpassable because of their terrorist activities.
We can deal with them but let us get an assurance there will no interference from the Government of Kenya.
Mandera County, Since 2004, when it was a district to the present day has experienced serious setback following clashes pitting the two largest clans in the district, the Garre and Murule. The two clans have had a long history of periodic struggles over grazing land, dating back to the 1916- 20s, 80's and more recent but also have had extended periods of peace between them. Prior to the 2004 violence, no serious armed clashes had occurred between the two clans since 1983.
The 2004 clashes began with pastoral clashes over disputed pasture at Jabibar, resulting in one death. The death triggered a revenge killing, a clear warning sign that xeer (Somalia Clan System) between the two clans was in danger of breaking down. The spiral of revenge killing culminated with Garres asaaulting Murules in several points along Elwak -Wargadud Road and the the Murules responded by killing of a prominent Garre NGO worker near EI Wak in December 2004. Then, The Garre, responded with armed attacks that ushered in a period ofwider conflict. From January to March 2005, multiple attacks were responsible for 50 deaths and 30,000 displaced persons in the district. The conflict reached it apex on March16,2005, when a Murule raided a Garre village of EI Golicha that resulted in a massacre of22 people, of whom 16 were children. The massacre triggered widespread outrage in the Kenyan media and international press, prompting direct Kenyan government response.
The two clans were convened in peace talks which were eventually mediated by a group of eminent Muslim leaders from the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (SUPKEM). Under considerable national pressure, the two clans reached an UMUL accord which enshrined open access to pasture throughout the district. But aid agencies on the ground reported that ethnic cleansing at the location level continues, and IDP return to home areas, including Mandera town, has been slow. The lack of hostilities may not constitute anenduring peace. While a return to armed conflict is not viewed as inevitable, it remains adangerous possibility.
A number of underlying conflict drivers have been at play in Mandera. Chronic tensions over access to grazing land and wells have unquestionably been a rootcause of the communal violence. Land pressures in the arid region have always been high.
A combination of factors -
Increased population, the displacement of Garre and Murule from Wajir-West and Isiolo back into Mandera, an increase in poorly placed boreholes, and the misuse of locations as zones of exclusive grazing land have allcontributed to growing anxiety among and pressure on pastoralists.
Political competition over constituencies and locations have been a more direct conflict driver.
Following clan clashes in the early 1980s, in 1988 a new constituency, Mandera-Central, was carved out of Mandera-East to provide a seat in parliament for the Garres. Prior to that time, the two constituencies in Mandera were routinely held by thenumerically dominant Murule. As in Wajir, it was thought that a separate constituency in a mainly Garre zone would serve as a conflict prevention device, by eliminating politicalcompetition between the Garre and Murille. Instead, it accelerated it.
As elsewhere in theregion, MPs wielded authority to pressure the government to expand the number oflocations in their constituency as a means of rewarding clients and expanding government services - schools, boreholes, stipends to chiefs - all part ofpolitical patronage in Kenya.
But because the "base" of each MP is his clan or sub-clan, rewards of location chieftainships went exclusively to the clan of the MP. And because control of locations was used to make exclusionist claims on land within the location borders, the net result was widespread ethnic cleansing in the three constituencies of Mandera.43Conflict wasmost acute in locations where valuable, previously shared grazing area was situated.
In the Garre-Murille clashes, competition within the Garre political elite appearsto have played an especially destructive and complex role. In 2002, both the Mandera-East and Mandera-Central constituencies were won by Garre from the Qoranyo sub-clan,one of two main Garre sub-clans the other being the Tuuf). The Tuuf had previously enjoyed prominence in the political realm and both the sub-clan and its ousted MP, Aden Nur Mohamed, were unhappy with the outcome.
Some local observers contend thatAden Nur and his Tuuf supporters sought an alliance with Murille and, in an attempt to demonstrate that the Qoranyo leaders could not rule, provoked security incidents and tensions between the two clans. Adan Nur's successor, MP Billow Kero, filed a statement with the CID accusing Aden Nur of inciting violence, and Aden Nur was summoned and questioned by the police. Nur in turn accuses Kero of using Garre militia to intimidate rivals. If either or both of the charges are true, it would mirror patterns in a number ofother troubled border regions of Kenya, where MPs and their political rivals arefrequently accused of fomenting ethnic violence.
As with the Garre-Ajuraan clashes in Wajir-North, the fact that Mandera district clans can call on militia firepower from neighboring Ethiopia, where kinsmen are either in the Ethiopia military or operate as para-military forces in the border areas, exacerbates the conflict.The Garre-Murille conflict was also entangled in and driven by the Garre-Marehan conflict. The Murille of Mandera district have had a long-running relationship with the Marehan sub-clans in the border area, especially the Ali Dheere sub-clan. A series of killings since 2000, and a longer history of rivalry over trade between the Ali Dheere and the Garre, led to deteriorating relations between the two groups. When armed clashes between the Marehan and Garre broke out over El Wak, the Garre suspected Murille complicity with the Marehan, increasing mistrust between the two.
The fact that the recently-brokered peace accord was reached underconsiderable external pressure and without adequate follow-up to insure implementation is worrisome. Most of the underlying factors driving the conflict - political manipulation of ethnic grievances by politicians, abuse of locations to pursue ethnic cleansing, andever-worsening pressures on pastoral households - are still in place. On the other hand, a number of factors could work in favor of consolidating the fragile peace. The impressive growth of civic peace groups in Mandera is helping build lines of communication and their watch-dog role may reduce the space political figures have to manipulate clantensions. Business interests in Mandera-town depend on cross-border trade, which has been interrupted by fighting, and could be convinced to support peace rather than fund their clan militias. Finally, the fact that the peace accord was mediated by national Muslim leaders may create a stronger taboo against violating the peace.
We do hope The Garre Community complies with this Umul Accord to the latter. The Murule Community have no problem with the Garre Community. Our Conflict started in 1916...and in 1929...and several smaller smaller conflicts until 1982-83 era and in 2004-2005 and in 2007-2008 (Umul Accord 1) and now in Umul Accord 2 -2021.
GARRE and MURULE face off in WANTEEY area, Lafey Constituency.
Militia Men from the GARRE community today attacked pastoralists of the MURULE community in a water point in the WANTEY area, in Alungu Ward of lafey constituency. They Injured several people before counter attacked by the Murule Community. Several injuries on both sides were reported. The Garre Militia men came by four vehicles and were outnumbered. they ran leaving the vehicles in the Water Point.
The reason behind the conflict is still unknown. But it should be understood that WANTE, QURQURA and YETHO are part of Alungu Ward of LAFEY CONSTITUENCY. Garres especially from Somalia have recently been seen in Wante, Yetho areas as other Garre Communities from Kenya have refused to settle them in their land.
WANTEEY is an important waterpoint sometimes used by the neighbouring Garre Community during drought and clashes have been seen before.
The GARRE and MURULE clan clashes are commonplace in the Mandera community. Just recently Murule were complaining of Somalia's Garre settling in Yetho and Wanteey area and a peace resolution was cuurently underway under Sheikh Umal...The Umul Accord.
The Umul Accord 2007-2008 arbitration was broken by the Garre community and clashes erupted after they settled Somalia's Garre in Murule Land. Umul Accord 2020 resolutions were agreed after Murules destroyed the built settlement by Somalia's Garre.
An international airport in Mandera County, in north-eastern Kenya, was first proposed in 2013, but has faced opposition at every stage of development. Initially the airport project was launched in the administrative division of Libehia in Mandera East. A feasibility study costing about USD3 million was conducted then the project stalled and moved to Wargadud in Mandera South. in May 2016, GARRE Community in Wargadud refused to be relocated to make way for the project and Governor Roba brought it in MURULE community Land.
Although construction of the airport has not commenced there are serious concerns over the potential impacts on pastoralists' access to grazing land and water. Residents have complained that they have not been consulted about the project and of a lack of transparency regarding funding. There is lack of clarity over the land area that would be required for the airport.
In February 2019 it was reported that MANDERA residents were ‘up in arms’ over the proposed construction of the airport. The proposed site had moved to Karo in the Khalalio ward (alternative spelling: Kalaliyo) which is in the north-east of Mandera near the border with Ethiopia. MURULE Elders in the region, concerned that the airport would disrupt their way of life, took to the street in protest. Senior Former Chief of Omar Jilaow Mohamed Hussein, said that no public participation had been conducted before county officials ordered them to vacate the area, adamant that residents depending upon pastoralism for their livelihoods would resist any plans to force them to leave the area. He said: “The airport will only benefit a few people especially the contractor and county government officials, we did not ask for it and it is time the executive rescinds on the decision.” Hussein also said that pastoralists from a 40 kilometer by 25 kilometer area of land would be displaced by the airport project.
Governor of Mandera, Ali Roba, denied that a “huge chunk of land” was required for the airport, stating that a piece of land “two kilometres wide and six kilometres long…nothing more” would be allocated. Roba alleged that powerful individuals, whom he did not name, had incited locals against the airport project and exaggerated the area of land to be allocated. Nearby Libehia ward Member of the County Assembly (MCA) Hon. Farah Abdinoor requested information regarding the budgetary allocation for the airport project, the source of the funding, the exact site measurements and when and where public participation had taken place.
MURULE Community Residents who would be affected by the airport, now referred to as 'Karo Airstrip'said that the development would spur inter-clan conflict over the surrounding area which is a water catchment area used to sustain livestock, of particular importance to pastoralists during the dry season. In March 2019 a case was filed on behalf of MURULE COMMUNITY aiming to stop construction of the airport. Residents claimed that authorities did not consult them about the airport and that the livelihoods of nearly 140,000 people would be affected by the impacts on livestock. The lawyer representing the residents said that once the area was fenced off animals would no longer be able to graze. Transparency issues were also raised; residents said the tender process had been shrouded in secrecy and the construction cost had not been made public. Locals also said that authorities should address more pressing concerns, in particular water scarcity and healthcare. The judge ordered that the case be heard in Garissa High Court, terming it as urgent.
Residents resisting construction of the airport have a strong case that there are ‘more pressing’ concerns that government should be working to address. Mandera is one of the poorest areas in Kenya. Statistics compiled in the Kenya Integrated Household Budget Survey for 2015-16, released in March 2018, showed that Mandera County had the third highest proportion of residents living in conditions of extreme poverty, with 38.9 per cent of citizens unable to afford the minimum food consumption basket.
A petition ‘Stop the Karo Airfield Project’, launched on 14th March 2019, called upon Mandera County to halt the project which ‘risks displacing thousands of people’ and would also block the community’s access to the Daua river, their main source of water. A number of residents refuted claims by Mandera County that the proposed new airport is essential, to provide an alternative to the existing airstrip, which governor Roba said was unsafe. One resident said the governor must prioritize provision of essential services before embarking on an unnecessary megaproject “that is only meant to siphon public money into private pockets”, adding that the areas that would be affected have no water yet “we want to build an airport as a resource looting project just like Dams or fence projects”.
A MURULE COMMUNITY ELDER calling from Rhamu, a nearby Local town said,“instead of the administration hankering for the airstrip project that is not even a priority and will end up serving only the interests of a few people, the governor should provide us with water and equip our hospitals". A vocal opponent of the Mandera County administration said the airport was unnecessary and criticized the governor’s speech as “Pharaonic”, comparing pursuit of the project to lack of action on water shortages: “The governor has never even called a press conference to address issue of drought and how to mitigate it”.
Mandera residents’ protest, court case and petition against construction of the new airport, which threatens to restrict access to water, coincides with severe and worsening drought gripping Kenya. Mandera is one of the most seriously affected areas. A March 2019 Relief Web briefing on the drought and food security situation listed Mandera as the second worst affected county in the country with 88,800 people requiring immediate food assistance. Mandera’s most drought-affected sectors were listed as water, health and livestock. Mandera was also one of the areas requiring water trucking and Hunger Safety Net Programme cash transfers by the National Drought Management Authority (NMDA) and where the county government had commenced food distribution to affected communities.
Residents’ legal case against construction of Karo Airstrip succeeded in stalling the project. On 27th March 2019 it was reported that Garissa Court had issued an interim conservatory order on the Karo airport project, pending the hearing and determination of the application before the court.
SUMMARY:
Name of conflict: WARGADUD - KARO Airstrip, Kenya
Country: Kenya
State or province: Mandera East
Location of conflict: Karo, Khalalio ward
Community : WARGADUD (GARRE) - KARO (MURULE COMMUNITY)
Accuracy of location MEDIUM (Regional level)
Type of conflict. 1st level:Infrastructure and Built Environment
Type of conflict. 2nd level:Water access rights and entitlements
Land acquisition conflicts
Ports and airport projects
Specific commodities:Land & Water
THE ISSUES INVOLVING WARGADUD - KARO AIRSTRIP
A proposal for a new airport in Mandera was initiated by the Mandera County government in 2013. Governor Ali Roba said the airport would be one of the key drivers of the county economy and that farm produce and animal products from the region would be processed and exported to earn foreign exchange. The groundbreaking ceremony for the project, then named Mandera-Wargadud Airport, attended by President Uhuru Kenyatta, took place in May 2016. But a week later Alwahab Enterprises Limited, the contractor that had been awarded the Sh600 million (USD 5.93 million) contract to construct the airport, moved to court to file a petition to stop the project, challenging the Public Procurement Administrative Review Board (PPARB) which had overturned the award of the tender and directed Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) to award the tender to another company, SEO & Sons. The Tender has now moved to ALWAHAB ENTERPRISES LIMITED.
Level of Investment:$5,930,000
Type of population: Rural
Community Involved : MURULE
Start of the conflict: 2013
Company names or state enterprises:
WARGADUD : SEO and Sons Limited - Awarded tender to construct Mandera Airport, tender subsequently cancelled due to forgery claims, case submitted for judicial review in 2018
Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) from Kenya
KARO : Alwahab Enterprises Limited - Awarded tender to construct Mandera Airport, the award was overturned and the tender granted to SEO and Sons Limited
Relevant government actors:Mandera County
Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) - http://www.eacc.go.ke/
Public Procurement Administrative Review Board (PPARB) - http://ppra.go.ke/pparb/
Intensity : MEDIUM (street protests, visible mobilization)
Groups mobilizing: : Indigenous groups or traditional communities
Local government/political parties : EFP
Neighbours/citizens/communities : Pastoralists
Forms of mobilization:Lawsuits, court cases, judicial activism
Street protest/marches : Arguments for the rights of mother nature
Appeals/recourse to economic valuation of the environment : PENDING or CLOSED.
Environmental ImpactsPotential: Air pollution, Biodiversity loss (wildlife, agro-diversity), Floods (river, coastal, mudflow), Food insecurity (crop damage), Global warming, Loss of landscape/aesthetic degradation, Noise pollution, Soil erosion, Oil spills, Deforestation and loss of vegetation cover, Surface water pollution / Decreasing water (physico-chemical, biological) quality, Groundwater pollution or depletion, Reduced ecological / hydrological connectivity, Other Environmental impacts, Large-scale disturbance of hydro and geological systems
Health ImpactsPotential: Malnutrition, Mental problems including stress, depression and suicide, Other Health impacts
Other Health impactsHealth problems caused by pollutants emitted by aircraft
Socio-economical ImpactsPotential: Increase in Corruption/Co-optation of different actors, Displacement, Loss of livelihood, Loss of traditional knowledge/practices/cultures, Social problems (alcoholism, prostitution, etc..), Land dispossession, Loss of landscape/sense of place, Other socio-economic impacts
Relocation of airport site from Libehia to Wargadud then to Karo then cancelled altogether.
Briefly explain:Although construction of the airport has not commenced there are serious concerns over the potential impacts on pastoralists' access to grazing land and water. Residents have complained that they have not been consulted about the project and of a lack of transparency regarding funding. There is lack of clarity over the land area that would be required for the airport.
Links to general newspaper articles, blogs or other websites:
Governor Roba’s Statement on Karo Airstrip Refuted, NFD Dispatch, 16 March 2019
Republic v Kenya Airports Authority Ex-Parte Seo & Sons Limited [2018] eKLR, Kenya Law, 21 March 2018
Mandera Airstrip Row, KTN Kenya, 13 March 2019
Petition - Stop the Karo Airfield Project, 14 March 2019
Governor Ali Roba blames selfish traders, clan politics for failed airport projects, Daily Nation, 17 March 2019
UPROAR AS MURULE ELDERS COUNTER AIRPORT CONSTRUCTION, Radio Midnimo, 27 February 2019
Contractor sues to stop airport project, Mediamax, 30 May 2016
Graft agency probes award of Mandera airport tender, Standard Digital, 11 July 2016
Kenya’s Mandera Airport construction tender cancelled, Construction Review Online, 5 October 2016
Turkana, Mandera and Samburu top list of poorest counties, Daily Nation, 23 March 2018
Garissa court stops Karo airstrip project pending determination, Kulan Post, 27 March 2019
BRIEF ON CURRENT DROUGHT AND FOOD SECURITY SITUATION IN ASAL COUNTIES, ReliefWeb, March 2019
Related media links to videos, campaigns, social network
