Tribal Clashes

What are tribal clashes? These are conflicts that occur among some communities or countries concerning tribes. The reason as to why many parts of Kenya have tribal classes is due to differences in leadership. They may fight due to the type of leaders they have.

I am a witness of tribal clashes due to raids and land ownership. I come from the northern part of Kenya, specifically Samburu county. I have been raised in an environment where people fight due to land and raids. My tribe, the Samburu fight against two communities, the Turkana and the Pokot, but mostly with the Pokot. I have never been personally involved in any fight, but I was a victim of being left homeless. We ran away from our homes and ended up in a deserted place. No food, no water, or even shelter.

I came to know that these two communities used to play the ‘tit for tat’ game. When the Pokot find a herdsmen from the Samburu community, they would kill him or her and take away all his flock of sheep, or a herd of cattle. Immediately Samburus find out about the incident, and they won’t even sleep that night, preparing for the raid. The next day they will go to the Pokots’ homes and make sure they kill and take their livestock back, adding more to theirs. I wonder what was the work of the leaders at that moment people were dying of fights and wars.

I joined Daraja and have had an opportunity to live in peace with all the different communities of Kenya, including the Pokot of whom I never thought were supposed to even speak. Living in peace with everyone in Kenya creates a sense of harmony, belonging and identify as one of the Kenyans. Lets nurture peace in our communities in order to uplift our country Kenya.