In days gone by, nobody could venture into the town without security escort. In fact, Ukasi Centre, located on the Mwingi-Garissa highway, carried the heavy symbolism of the divide between the so called Northern Frontier District and “Kenya”. Here, vehicles had to be kept for hours before being escorted to Garissa in a convoy as the region became synonymous with banditry.

That’s no longer the case, and the town could well be a model of how cattle rustling-prone areas of North Rift and Upper Eastern can be rescued. Perhaps, what has not changed is the harsh climatic condition. And the landscape. As one descends on the smooth road down the high ground overlooking the town, buildings dot the undulating valley that hosts the town, giving a spectacular view.

The mighty River Tana offers great relief from the scorching heat and gives a welcoming feel, a prelude to the peace that any visitor is assured of across the bridge. Choking under decades of sectarian fights and the hallucination of secessionist struggles right from the colonial days, the province and its headquarters has undergone an improbable metamorphosis.

But Kenyans in other provinces are yet to come to grips with this refreshing reality, even as high profile delegations from neighbouring countries have been to this region to share the experience. The latest such team to be hosted early this year by the Garissa Peace and Development Committee (GPDC) was a delegation from Uganda.

“This is the most peaceful province in the whole country. The biggest problem is perception, particularly when you mention the word north — North Eastern Province, North Rift,” says James ole Seriani, the provincial commissioner. “North Eastern is a victim of geographical confusion. At times people call me to find out how we are doing when banditry cases are reported in places like Isiolo and Marsabit. These places are in Eastern Province,” says the administrator, adding that there has not been any single cattle rustling incident recorded in the province in the past 20 years.

This contrasts sharply with other regions choking under the weight of insecurity fuelled by small and light weapons in the hands of civilians. In North Rift, for instance, a more deadly form of cattle-rustling in which raids are well planned and executed with military precision characterised by modern weapons, has raised concern. This has resulted in the current exercise to mop up illegal arms.

But this approach may not be enough and there could be a few lessons that can be borrowed from the experience of NEP. Kenya’s colonial government enacted several laws specifically targeting the north. The Outlying District Ordinance of 1902 effectively declared the Northern Frontier District (NFD — made up of the present-day districts of Wajir, Mandera, Ijara, Garissa, Isiolo, Moyale and Marsabit) a closed area; movement in and out was only possible under a special pass.

The Special Districts (Administration) Ordinance of 1934, together with the Stock Theft and Produce Ordinance of 1933, gave the colonial administrators extensive powers of arrest, restraint and detain residents, and also to seize the property of “hostile tribes”, effectively legalising collective punishment of tribes and clans for the offences of their members.

Residents saw this as a betrayal, and boycotted the 1963 independence elections. Matters were not helped by the ensuing Shifta War. Somalia broke diplomatic relations with Britain and supported the secessionists. Kenya’s independent government was firm in its resolve not to cede an inch of its territory. Two weeks after independence, it declared a state of emergency over the NFD, which lasted for close to 30 years.

Ironically, the architect of the present-day peace, former PC Mohamud Ali Saleh, used tactics similar to the colonial policy. Known as The Saleh Strategy, the peace drive involved holding responsible, any provincial administrator in whose area of jurisdiction banditry is reported.

“Different clans were fighting over issues like theft or rape. There was no basis for the costly clashes,” recalls Mr Osman Abdi, the chairman of GPDC. Launched in 2001, the strategy involved using clans to apprehend criminals among them by confiscating their livestock, especially camels, to force cooperation with law enforcers.

“Once you detain a Somali’s camels, he will submit easily,” Mr Abdi says. Aware of the risks of illegal arms among the population, the Ministry of Northern Kenya and other Arid Lands, through the Armed Violence Reduction Project, run by the Arid Lands Resource Management Project, has been engaged in a mop-up exercise since 2004.

“We believe that the history of conflict is partly resource-based and can be resolved by addressing issues surrounding sharing of water and pasture,” says Abdi Mohammed Abdi, the project’s regional coordinator. In its campaigns, the project has particularly targeted women to help persuade their men and sons to give up the gun for peace. “What we tell women is that they don’t participate in clan feuds because they don’t have guns, but their men do,” Mr Abdi says.

Working through district and divisional peace committees, the project also promotes cross-border dialogue between the residents and their neighbours from Ethiopia and Somalia. Such efforts have seen the recovery of a Ministry of Education vehicle stolen by Somalia militias in Mandera last year.

Now the Somalia conflict is posing new threats to the region as militia fights spill over into Kenya as happened when Al Shabaab militants pursuing fleeing Hizbul Islam rivals injured and abducted some Kenyans in Dadajabula Village, 200 kilometres south of Wajir Town. “We initiate dialogue between elders on either side of the border. We insist that the border shall remain closed unless stolen property is returned,” Mr Abdi said.

This way, despite the porous border with lawless Somalia and the close to 300,000 Somali refugees in Dadaab, the region rarely records highway robberies. Talking of infrastructure, there are no roads. Dusty, sandy and badly damaged donkey paths, stretching for miles on the flat lands, are what passes for roads in the entire province. The only true road is a 10-kilometre stretch from Garissa to Modika Centre that is the junction of the roads to Wajir and Dadaab.

Recently, the Nation embarked on a gruelling 10-hour 650-kilometre journey from Garissa to Kotulo Centre on the Garissa-Mandera “highway”. The “roads” are littered with trucks that have broken down, their owners forced to seek for help hundreds of kilometres away.

The endless stretch of “road”, coupled with non-existent lakes formed by sun mirages and temperatures gravitating towards 35 degrees centigrade makes any visitor rue the decision to venture into this forgotten land. “This region needs functional roads, communication and electricity to unlock its potential. As long as these are lacking, our efforts to address pressing issues will be undermined,” Mr Seriani says.

Source: Daily Nation