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More than 30 families who had fled their homes recently in Matigari village, Mutara location in Laikipia County due to tribal clashes have been urged to return and rebuild their lives.
Laikipia County Commissioner Onesmus Kyatha, speaking at a public baraza in Matigari primary and junior school to address the dispute between a section of Samburu and Turkana community in the area, assured residents that peace had been restored.
“We have been able to hold a dialogue between the two conflicting communities. Our agreement is that children resume their studies and the government will ensure they are protected,” said Kyatha.
Kyatha said that the school will be under police surveillance to ensure learning continues smoothly and uninterrupted and at the same time said that stolen cattle would be recovered.
David Chesang, a peace elder in Laikipia said that talks between Samburu and Turkana communities were ongoing aimed to find a lasting solution, noting that in the past three years, the county had experienced peace, and the conflict was an isolated incident.
“We haven’t had insecurity cases for nearly three years in Laikipia, we have been peaceful. This incident was impromptu and we will address it through support from the government,’’ said Chesang.
Wilson Lemoi, a resident, assured that following the dialogue to end the conflict, they were committed to living in harmony and ensuring their children access education.
Lemoi urged the affected families to return to their homes, work with the rest of the community to rebuild their lives.
On June 3, this month, two men from Samburu community visited Matigari village, to purchase some khat, however, it resulted in a scuffle, according to locals where two youth got killed and several houses set ablaze.
During the incident, victims said their crucial documents including birth certificates, title deeds among others were reduced to ashes. The affected victims have sought refuge at Baptist church in Rumuruti town several kilometres from where they lived.
The government donated relief food and other non-food items including mattresses, iron sheets, to families whose houses were torched when the ethnic clashes ensued.
