A Kenyan panel investigating clashes in the coastal region that left 164 people dead since last year said the flow of illegal arms from Somalia and an outlawed separatist group played a part fueling the violence.
Fighting between the Pokomo farming community and the Orma people, who are nomadic livestock herders, was politically instigated and also sparked by competition over land and other resources, according to a copy of the report distributed by the government-appointed panel to reporters yesterday.
The clashes in Tana River at the Kenyan coast, which is one of the country’s poorest regions, escalated after authorities failed to react, according to the panel led by High Court Judge Grace Nzioka. More than 40,000 people were displaced, it said. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta received the report in May, according to statement from the presidency.
Disputes over land have been rife since before Kenya’s independence from Britain in 1963.
No comments:
Post a Comment