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New clashes in Moyale as Marsabit Town remains calm

Countries
Kenya
Sources
Daily Nation
Publication date
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In Summary

  • A Moyale town resident who declined to be named said sounds of gunfire started renting the air from 6am and this continued for more than six hours.

  • He said transport and business operations in Moyale town were halted following the renewed violence.

  • Meanwhile, Marsabit town was a beehive of activities as residents from diverse ethnic backgrounds thronged the Marsabit Catholic Mission compound for an inter-cultural event.

By JAME NGUNJIRI

Fresh clashes were reported in Moyale on Friday.

The renewed clashes continued for the better part of the morning, hours after area leaders held a meeting to try and solve the problem which has rocked the region for some time now.

When contacted by phone, Moyale OCPD Nehemiah Lagat confirmed that there were fresh clashes.

He however did not give further details as he said he was held up in a meeting.

But a Moyale town resident who declined to be named said sounds of gunfire started renting the air from 6am and this continued for more than six hours.

This prevented residents from venturing outside their houses.

“Today things are bad, we are still in the house for fear, nothing is going on in Moyale town,” he said by phone.

He said transport and business operations in Moyale town were halted following the renewed violence.

MARSABIT TOWN PEACEFUL

Meanwhile, Marsabit town was a beehive of activities as residents from diverse ethnic backgrounds thronged the Marsabit Catholic Mission compound for an inter-cultural event.

The event dubbed "Marsabit County Cultural Exhibition" saw a number of participants who are deeply divided by deadly inter-ethnic skirmishes getting a rare opportunity to mingle and share their diverse and rich cultures.

According to the organisers, the aim of the event was to promote peaceful coexistence among the warring communities and show-case the strength of the county as a tourism destination.

“The aim of the event is to unite the communities living in Marsabit County by displaying cultural diversity,” said one of the organisers Adan Bido.

“This is an event organised by a group calling itself Walqana, a Borana word meaning to unite, which has members from Borana, Gabra, Burji and Rendile communities,” said Mr Bido.

He said what motivated them to organise the event was the problem of tribalism that has existed over the years in the region among the communities living there.

“Marsabit County has been on the spot light over negative issues. Whenever stories from this County are covered by the media they are about skirmishes, famine and poor infrastructure.

We want to try and transform our people,” he said.

He said within the same County there existed tourist attraction sites like Lake Paradise.

By organising the event they were opening Marsabit County to the rest of the world as a tourist destination, he added.

He said despite the skirmishes going on in Moyale, they wanted to promote unity among the different communities living in the County.

They also hope to contribute towards ending ethnic hatred among area residents.