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

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

Peacebuilding interventions promote inter-community trade

By Koech Cheruiyot Denis

Turkana communities have been in recurrent conflict for decades. This had led to loss of life, destruction of property and disruption of economic activities that the two communities used to engage in. Due to government and other actors’ interventions, the two communities have lived in peace for the past one year. This has provided an ample ground for the two communities to revert to their past economic activities.

Kenyan Communities Celebrate a Year and a Half of Peace

By Koech Cheruiyot Denis

The event brought together Pokot and Turkana communities, local and national governments. Photo: Koech C Denis.

On 21 September each year the International Day of Peace is observed around the world. The theme of this year’s commemoration is “The sustainable development goals: building blocks of peace” which aims to highlight the importance of all segments of society to work together to strive for peace.

After three months of planning, Peaceful Empowerment in Arid lands (PEARL), celebrated the International Day of Peace Day in Lotongot, Kenya, with close to 1,500 people in attendance.

Peace committees: a key player in resource based conflict management

By Koech Cheruiyot Denis

 

Joseph Lobei Loitwan aged 40 years clad in his Turkana attire holds his cheeks as he says, “Since May 2015, we have enjoyed peace with Pokot counterparts. The only incident that happened was the Kotaruk attack. On the wee hours of 20^th October 2015, when the Pokot raided Epuke, a kraal under Kotaruk sublocation in Loima. A middle aged man was killed with several livestock driven by Pokot from Lopet Location under Kiwawa location in North Pokot. The Turkana revenged by killing two Pokot of Kasei division, under Kamnono location in Kacheliba Sub-county. The Elders performed traditional peace rites and vowed this was never to happen again. As a resolution, since the Pokots were the aggressors, they paid back the stolen goats as compensation while their killed men were never paid for.  Since then we have lived peacefully.”

Peaceful Empowerment in Arid Lands (PEARL) Activity Pictures

By Koech Cheruiyot Denis

Here are some pictures from various PEARL program’s conflict management interventions along the Turkana-West Pokot border in Kenya.