“We have endured
and survived the greatest challenges of our time and managed to perform fairly
well under extreme conditions. The World Bank report put Mandera in the top 14
counties despite difficult circumstances. We know we can do better if we are
free of internal security challenges and terror threats.”-
Governor Capt. Ali Roba.
If
there are counties whose people have demonstrated resilience, Mandera is among
those at the very top. The county has endured security threats from occasional
clan rivalries and terror attacks by Al-Shabab militants. Still, it has
stayed on course with its development agenda. Working in collaboration with
National Cohesion and Integration Commission, Mandera County Government has
championed stakeholder meetings and conflict impact assessments in its resolve
to strike lasting peace in the area.
The peace meetings have not
only entailed integrated participation of the council of elders, youth and
women, but have also embraced cross-border linkages with neighbouring Ethiopia and Somalia. “We have endured
and survived the greatest challenges of our time and managed to perform fairly
well under extreme conditions. The World Bank report put Mandera in the top 14 counties
despite difficult circumstances. We know we can do better if we are free of
security challenges,” Mandera County Governor Ali Roba says. He continues: “There
are moments in the lives of nations and its people when it is incumbent upon
those in leadership with clarity of vision to survey the problem with all its
complexities and vain memories in a bold drive toward new horizons.Such moments
are now for us in Mandera.”
Mandera Senator Billow Kerrow confirms that leaders in
Mandera back the peace building efforts, saying: “As leaders, we are committed to the process. Insha Allah, the people of
this region will ultimately reconcile and live in peace.” The County
leadership has been on a campaign mode to make Mandera an island of peace after
a history of clan clashes that previously turned villages into killing fields. The
dream has been to have officials of Mandera County Government stand together to
strengthen security amid challenges including the terror thereat from across
the border with particularly Somalia.
Governor Roba says: “We have fulfilled
our promise to deal with the tribal clashes and the insecurity in our county
firmly. I am happy to report that the security situation is at its best despite
isolated incidents of terror attacks.”
The situation is
stabilising around the county, and today, there is a more secure Mandera town. “This County Government cannot fail to work because
of insecurity caused by a few selfish individuals,” declares Governor Roba. “We will take all measures to make sure the dream of developing Mandera
County and making it an attractive investment destination is not hindered by
insecurity.” The Governor continues: “As
a County, we have scaled new heights in the area of security. We inherited a
burning county, but we have managed to neutralise many acts of violence with
the support of our leaders from the county.”
“Our clans now co-exist peacefully. In this regard, I would like to
extend my sincere appreciation to the National Government for the support they
have provided us and the local security team in Mandera for rising to the
occasion to secure our County.” I also thank our leaders, both
elected and local leadership, as well as the COE, who were very instrumental to the achievement of this result. The
chairperson of the Mandera County Public Service Mr Abdi-Nur Hussein, says the County has hired 200 enforcement officers, who were offered paramilitary training at
the National
Youth Service.
The minister in-charge of
conflict resolution, cohesion and integration, Mr Ahmed Sheikh, says a genuine quest for peaceful ways to dealing
with conflict amongst rival clans has gone a long way in also allowing for
effective security management. “Before
the County Government came into being, Mandera got its fair share of violence
from across the border. Foreign fighters infiltrated the clan militia.Their agenda was not to support one clan against the other but to use
the violence as a shadow for a bigger mission of disrupting county/national
security. We had to come up with a county security strategy to address short
and long-term issues,” says Mr. Sheikh.
The minister says
mediation, especially through elders and key opinion leaders, has seen the
resettlement of 80 per cent of IDPs, 48 reconciliation meetings, 35
dialogue meetings and 25 Rapid
response initiatives. The county Government has also revived Traditional Justice
System (TJS) in the form of Council
of Elders (COEs). The COEs are now present in all the six
sub-counties. They handle day-to-day intra and inter clan disputes. To support
the work of the COEs, the Garreh and Degodia clans elected committee members composed of 15 elders to
spearhead the implementation of the peace accord.
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