One of the triggers of perennial clashes in restless Laikipia County has been identified as acute water shortage.
This has seen herders, mostly pastoralists drive their animals over long-distances in search of the precious commodity. Along the way, they clash with the residents sparking, bloody conflicts that have seen property worth millions of shillings destroyed and many lives lost.
To address this problem, the government has commenced projects aimed at addressing challenges facing residents in Laikipia County that often lead to conflicts.
The government has identified areas where standard dams are being constructed by the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) to mitigate the perennial lack of water that often leads to conflict amongst communities that are pastoralists.
The General Officer Commanding Border Security Command Major General Stephen Otieno accompanied by 2nd Brigade Commander Brigadier Peter Assava visited the Kilimon area to identify a suitable location for the construction of a water dam.
The two officers also visited the multi-agency security command centre at Ngoisusu where they met security teams, locals and their elders.
Before touring the Kilimon area, the two top KDF officers toured Mukogodo East in Laikipia North and met the locals who identified a location for the construction of a new water dam.
“The community’s livelihood depends on this dam. We and our animals drink its waters. Its contamination and silting have made it worse and we are staring at serious suffering. The rehabilitation of this dam will help us much,” said Mr Simon Ngila, Chairman Water Resource Users Association.
Clean water
“We are going to address the need for clean water first by building a new dam that will be fenced to avoid encroachment from where water will be pumped and piped to a water tank to serve the community and your livestock. After ensuring there is clean water from the new dam, we are then going to rehabilitate the existing one to increase water catchment with designated places set aside to serve both domestic and wild animals,” said Major General Otieno in a post on KDF Facebook page.
The projects are part of government efforts to address challenges affecting locals in Laikipia County in the ongoing operation to restore normalcy and avoid recurrence of conflicts in future.
The government has stepped up security in the volatile region by increasing multi-agency patrols in the area in a bid to ensure security is maintained round the clock. BY DAILY NATION