Police investigating Banisa officials over inter-ethnic killings

Monday, June 22, 2015

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MANDERA -- Kenyan authorities in the country’s northeastern county of Mandera on Sunday arrested three government administrators in connection to last week’s resurgence of inter-clan skirmishes pitting two rival Somali clans.

County commissioner Alex Ole Nkonyo said other people are also being investigated for their involvements in the killings that sparked hostilities between Garre and Degodia communities, who have engaged in previous on-and-off clashes that has left hundreds of people killed.

Nkoyo said the local administrators from Elmole, Hullow and Banisa locations in Banisa sub-county were apprehended for failing to intervene in the skirmishes that have resulted into the killings of 15 people in the past week of retaliatory fighting between the two clans.

"We have arrested the chiefs for interrogations in respect of the recent killings between Garre and Degodia communities.

"We are also investigating other persons who could have instigated the counter attacks for revenge," Nkoyo said.

Mandera, a town riddled with past explosive attacks from Islamist terror group 'al-Shabaab' that is based in neighboring war-ravaged Somalia and incessant inter-clan fighting between the minority Degodia and the majority Garre community, has been enjoying a relative calm in the past few months.

"It is retrogressive for our people to fight at this time when the country and particularly Mandera County, is faced with serious threats from a common enemy ('al-Shabaab').

We urge the rival clans to show a lot of restrain and always give dialogue a chance to resolve any difference," Nkoyo said.

Both Garre and Degodia have communal presence and have sophisticated armed militia.

The two warring clans have over the years been fighting for supremacy and control of the county, something that has degenerated into clashes.

Nkoyo said adequate security officers were deployed to the affected areas to safeguard the civilians from further attacks, adding that the government is also facilitating peace talks to diffuse the reignited animosity between the communities.

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