NAIROBI: Inter-commu­nal clashes in southeastern Kenya have killed at least 18 people in the past two weeks, police said on Saturday, as security was boosted in the affected areas.

Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki declared 12 areas of Tana River County “dangerous and disturbed” due to the clashes, which have pitted communities of pastoralists against resettled flood victims.

Kenya’s national police chief Douglas Kanja ordered residents to surrender their firearms to prevent a further escalation of violence.

The fighting, which has been most severe in the town of Bura, began when the county government offered land to rehome people displaced by flooding on the banks of Tana River, the longest in Kenya.

Local pastoralists protested, arguing that those people being relocated would be occupying their grazing grounds. “We have lost 18 people since last month and that is why security has been intensified to ensure no more deaths,” a senior police officer in Tana River County said.

“But the situation is very tense now because people don’t want to surrender firearms.” On Saturday, the Director of Criminal Investigations Mohamed Amin announced the arrest of two local leaders, Tana River County governor Dhadho Godhana and local lawmaker Said Hiribae, for failing to respond to police summonses over the unrest.

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2024