Factors that Fuel Cattle-rustling
Conflicts in the North rift region of Kenya are thought to be part and parcel of a pastoral culture
and livelihood of resident communities. More so conflicts between Marakwet, Pokot and
Turkana communities are deemed to be resource based resulting from competition over pasture
and water.
Cattle’s rustling is the act of forceful raiding of livestock from one community by another using
guns and leaving behind destruction of property and loss of lives. This concept should be
understood alongside cattle raids which involve stealing livestock from one community by
another without destroying property or killing people. Throughout the paper cattle rustling is
used interchangeably with conflicts among the Pokot, Marakwet and Turkana. Chemisto,(2010).
The Successive Marginalization of the Pastoralists- As has already been discussed herein, the
pastoralist communities have experienced years of successive marginalization at the political and
economic fronts from the time of colonization to the present independent Kenya. This may be
attributed to the fact that at the advent of colonialism, many pastoralist communities were
unwilling to adopt new cultures and changes that the white man brought, and consequently, they
were transferred to the unproductive regions of the country. Further, the pastoral communities,
due to their deep culture and their nomadic way of living, failed to obtain the white man’s
education. Lack of western education among the pastoralist communities partly explains their
failure to actively participate in the political governance of the country at independence and
after. For many years, the pastoral communities have been sidelined by the Government from the
mainstream of the countries socio-economic and political fronts. Pastoralist areas are the least
developed and the infrastructure is poorly developed in these areas which are majorly ASALs.
There are few schools, health facilities and poor telecommunication services. Indeed, the
disparity in the economic and living standards between most of the pastoralists and the rest of the
country is extremely wide, Umar, Abdi, (2004).
The statement of Session Paper No. 10 of 1965 governed the allocation of the state’s resources
for over 40 years. This development policy document gave resource allocation preference to the
so-called high potential areas (which cover only 20% of Kenya’s total land coverage) while
consciously ignoring and marginalizing the ASALs in the developmental agenda of the state. The
extent of the marginalization has been clearly illustrated in a document prepared by the Ministry
of State for the Development of Northern Kenya and other Arid and Semi-Arid Areas, Umar,
Abdi, (2004).
Environmental and Ecological Factors-Pastoral systems are by and large products of climatic
and environmental factors. Hence, apart from the Government’s failure to take pro-active and
corrective policy measures to improve the socio-economic conditions of the pastoralists, the
problem of underdevelopment in the ASALs can be attributed to that fact that people living in
these regions are prisoners of geography. Due to the prevalence of harsh climes in these regions,
the livelihoods of pastoralists are often times seriously threatened by famine and drought.
Environmental factor have therefore contributed largely to the practice of cattle-rustling. Every
year, the effects of drought and famine lead to the death of hundreds of livestock. The long spells
of drought experienced in most parts of the pastoralist communities, mainly the North Eastern,
and North rift parts of the country including Masol in West Pokot County, has led to undue
suffering of these communities, which has in turn led to a competition over pasture and water for
livestock. This has led to the pastoralists crossing borders and trespassing to other communities’
land in search of pasture and water. In the process, the pastoralists engage in inter-ethnic conflict
mainly because of two reasons. First, the effects of drought and famine leads to the death of
hundreds of stock, and for this reason, the pastoralists desire to engage in rustling to restock and
compensate for their lost cattle. Secondly, some of the pastoralists engage in rustling as a way of
increasing their wealth or as conduits for unscrupulous businessmen out to make a quick kill
from the miseries and hardships of the pastoralist, Paula Palmer, (2010).
The increasing commercialization of livestock theft has led to further tension and conflict
amongst the pastoralist communities. The sad reality of the commercialization of cattle-rustling
is that while the pastoralists go for each other’s necks (in order to satisfy the demand of the
livestock buying middlemen), the meat-loving urbanite Kenyans are the unsuspecting
collaborators of these crooked businessmen. Most urbanite Kenyans offer a ready market for
conflict nyamachoma as they go about ordering the choicest cuts of meat in their fun-filled
weekend engagements in Nairobi, Nanyuki, Isiolo, Nyeri and other major towns unaware of the
fact that they could be feasting on meat for which some other Kenyan living in the ASALs has
paid for dearly, Satya, Ali Chemisto, (2010).
Developmental negligence by the government-Both the colonial and the post-colonial
governments have subjected the pastoralists to undue repression through the state security
agents. During the colonial period, free movement of people and animals in Northern Kenya
region was restricted, and this adversely affected the economic and social development of the
inhabitants of the region, who are mainly pastoralists. Their region was heavily controlled by
military officers. The pastoralists were viewed with suspicion as they were seen to be ‘war-like’,
and were denied many of the state’s privileges. Further, any incidents of traditional cattle-raids
amongst the pastoral communities where handled with maximum brutality, often leading to the
deaths of many pastoralists. As already noted above, the brute force meted out on the pastoralists
by the colonial government only led to the resistance from the pastoralists to colonial domination
and influence, and in return, hampered the development of the new colonial economy that was
taking root in other parts of the country. Unfortunately, the independent Kenyan Government
seems to have borrowed a leaf from their colonial predecessors in that they adopted the same
heavy-handed approach to the issue of cattle-rustling among the pastoralist communities. Since
independence, state security agents have contributed to the continued repression of the pastoralist
communities by perpetrating serious human right violations among the communities during their
so-called ‘state-operations’ in the ASALs. Oftentimes, these violations are carried under the
terms of collective punishment where everyone the young, the old, the pastolarists and the men
suffer in equal for committing real or imagined transgressions against the state. This blanket
approach by state-security agents to security concerns in the ASALs has increased tension and
animosity between the security agents and members of the communities, thereby impeding the
likelihood of there being any effective collaboration in efforts aimed at curbing livestock theft,
Weiss, (2004).
Deeply entrenched pastoral culture- The pastoralist communities have continued to follow
their traditions and cultural way over many centuries. Many have refused to embrace the western
lifestyle. Many of these communities continue to rely on pastoralism as their sole source of
livelihood and continue to lead nomadic lifestyles. To many pastoralists, cattle is seen as a
valuable asset, a wealth reserve and a sacrificial gift and a pastoralist can do all it takes to protect
and seek for more cattle. Traditionally, having large herds of livestock was seen as a source of a
secure livelihood base and a sign of prestige. A very high premium is placed on the ownership of
cattle, which is an integral part of the pastoralists’ culture. High pressure is therefore placed on
pastoral communities as culture demands that a successful member of community is one who has
the biggest herd of cattle, Chemisto, (2010).
Although it has been argued elsewhere in this report that the traditional practice of cattle-rustling
and ownership is increasingly acquiring a new face characterized by livestock theft, there can be
no denying the fact that the vestiges of the traditional perceptions and practices of cattle-rustling
continue to play a big role in the current incidents of livestock-related inter-ethnic conflict
among pastoralist communities. Research conducted by, Practical Action, an NGO working
among pastoralist communities, further reveals the role of culture in fuelling inter-ethnic conflict
through pastolarists who openly ridicule their men through songs if they do not raid other
communities to provide for the pastolarists’s needs. This is prevalent among the Rendille,
Samburu, Gabra and Borana communities, Kothari, (1990).
The centrality of cattle among the pastoralist communities is further augmented by Baxton’s
observation when he avers that, “a person stripped of stock is stripped of the most active social
relationship and thereby of selfhood and self-respect; so it is no wonder that almost every one
strives to keep some livestock and those fortunate few who have incomes from trade and regular
employment continue to invest in stock. However, it must be noted that strictly speaking,
traditional culture did condone the current practice of livestock theft which seems to be governed
by the rules of the jungle as opposed to the sanctions of tradition and culture.
The traditional basis of cattle raiding was solely for purposes of, inter alia, obtaining cattle to be
used as dowry payment, as a rite of passage or as a show of heroism and social power and
prestige. The same was closely monitored by elders to ensure that no excesses were committed.
The raids used to be conducted within well accepted rules of engagement, and the practice was
acceptable to the participating communities. Retaliatory attacks also followed the said acceptable
rules. However, there has been experienced a total transformation of this traditional practice, to
well organized banditry attacks where livestock is often raided for commercial purposes and
where the practice is more often than not, characterized with human rights violations such as
killings, rape and torture, Kothari, (1990).
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