Communities on the Mandera border have agreed to unite against criminals trying to create hostility amongst them.
They reached agreement on Monday at a peace meeting at Burmayo village in Mandera South.
Present were Mandera CEC for Public Service and Conflict Management and Cohesion Ahmed Sheikh and Islamic Relief Peace Co-coordinator Abdi Harun.
The dialogue meeting included peace delegations from both communities.
The aim was to quell tension between the two communities following a recent clash in which six people were injured, some from each side.
The peace meeting agreed that any individual or armed gangs attacking innocent civilians will be labelled criminals and dealt in accordance with the law.
“We two communities will deal with any individual hell-bent on disrupting unity as an individual. There will be no generalisations of community X or Z,” Sheikh said in a statement.
The two communities agreed to continue sharing scarce resources such as pasture and water at all times.
The struggle for water and pasture for livestock has been the biggest cause of conflict amongst many communities in northern Kenya.
We two communities will deal with any individual hell-bent on disrupting unity as an individual. There will be no generalisations of community X or Z.
Islamic Relief Peace Co-coordinator Harun said, “The two communities have peacefully co-existed for centuries and will continue doing so. You have enjoyed peace with no reports of friction in recent years and this should continue."
Last month, Governor Ali Roba urged communities to live in peace and never to allow anything to divide them.
The call followed fears of hostilities between the Garre and Degodia clans after one person reportedly was killed at the Ethiopian border.
The county was the epicentre bloody clan clashes from 2011 to 2013. Many were killed, hundreds displaced and property destroyed.
This made it difficult for Roba to run the county and implement development projects.
