Warriors of Peace

Warriors of Peace

By Koech Cheruiyot Denis

It is noon. We are navigating corrugation, dry river bed after dry river bed.  We are headed to Takaywa, a kraal located deep along the West Pokot Turkana border. The village, located not far from the Turkwel River, welcomes us with Pokot and Turkana children playing under huge acacia trees. It is a beautiful picture, owe it to the current state of peace. We are here to meet Simon Chilaruk, a peace coordinator in the area.

Chila and a section of his family. Photo: Koech C Denis/Mercy Corps

“I was a lethal Pokot Ng'oroko (warrior). I am now a born again peace maker,” Simon says as he holds his daughter, Mercy.

Chila, as Simon is popularly known, abandoned the state of being a warrior in 2015, shortly after 2014 fighting between Pokot and Turkana which led to the killing of his 10-year old son.

“Life was hell then. We could not do anything. There is a big difference now. My 10 children are safe. My three wives are happy. Our livestock are multiplying. Mine is to do business to sustain my family.” He says.

Chila, 30, is a member of a joint 60-member committee (30 Pokot and 30 Turkana) that mediates, among others, conflicts over stolen livestock and sharing of natural resources between Pokot and Turkana communities. According to him, the committee has been able to pre-empt conflict and arrest it. He says the area experiences at least three thefts of livestock every month.

Chila is one of more than 250 peace actors who Peaceful Empowerment in Arid lands (PEARL) has trained on peacebuilding, negotiation and mediation. Most villages and kraals along the border now have peace committees. PEARL supports them to mediate in intra and inter-communal disputes on natural resource use and sharing, stolen livestock recovery and any other issue that could escalate conflict.

“When livestock are stolen, it is the responsibility of peace committees to track and recover stolen livestock which are in their territory. They then hand over the livestock to the committee from the other side,” he says.

To strengthen the current state of peace, the peace committees hold frequent peace meetings in both Pokot and Turkana sides.

“This peace is fragile. If we go back to sleep, this area will burn. We have realised that destruction and solution are both from us,” Chila says before adding that stakeholders in the peace sector should assist peace committee members, who are purely volunteers, to obtain their livelihood.

“I urge my fellow peace committee members not to relent in this work which they are not paid to perform. With peace, there is development. People no longer lose lives and property is no longer being destroyed. These are the fruits of peace,” he concludes.

Chila’s counterpart from Turkana, Mzee Ekirimet Long’ore Ikol, says nothing surpasses the sweetness of peace. Ekirimet adds that peace committee members are like brokers – they bring Pokot and Turkana communities to talk instead of resorting to guns.

Ekirimet Long'ore Ikol. Photo: Koech C Denis/Mercy Corps

“It is a very challenging task. At times, bad elements among your people will call you a traitor because you engage with people from the other community. I have faced uncountable death threats during livestock recovery exercise. Many guns have been pointed at me,” he says as we walk into his compound located at Market Village – the largest village in Kainuk.

Ekirimet, 60, downed his warrior gun in 2003 when a local peace foundation approached him and other warriors. He would then be one of the most influential peace actors in Turkana South. He has participated in peace talks in other regions such as Tana River, Nadome, Tot, Amudat, Kanyarkwat among others.

Ekirimet, who recently had all his goats stolen, says the current state of peace is owed to frequent dialogue meetings between the two communities.

“We still have a few people who are not happy with peace. Maybe they make heavy harvests from conflict. Those are the people currently working day and night to spoil peace,” he adds.

He says that a lasting solution to the conflict will come from the two communities and stakeholders. He cites absence of the rule of law as the major impediment to peace.

“When livestock are stolen, efforts are made to recover the livestock. The story ends there. The security agencies should arrest criminals for prosecution. If that is done, raiders will raid knowing that they will be arrested and prosecuted,” he concludes.