The elevation of Ukur Yatani to Kenya’s national granary keeper came with it raised prospects to restore peace in his native Marsabit County.
The former Kenya ambassador Brussels is expected to use his immense powers as Treasury CS to leverage other centers of power to promote peace and reconciliation in the ethnic-violence scarred county. These include internal security, defense, devolution among other departments.
Yatani’s appointment to replace Henry Rotich has rekindled hope of unity among northern Kenya leaders and Marsabit in particular.The County’s leadership has since 2013 remained divided.The leaders wasted no time closing ranks to support President Uhuru Kenyatta’s elevation of the Labour CS to head Treasury though in an acting capacity.There is expectation in the restive County that new found unity will herald a new era of calm as was witnessed in the past when Mr Yatani was picked by retired President Mwai Kibaki to fly the flag as an assistant minister for Science and Technology.Yatani had been elected MP for North Horr in a by-election in 2006.
Turmoil
Though the anticipated unity is yet to become a reality especially with the recent flare-ups along the Kenya-Ethiopia border, open quarreling among rival political leaders has stopped.Locals are saying that with the leaders working together, tension along the border will be easy to deal with.
For years, Marsabit has been hitting headlines owing to ethnic conflict between the Borana and Gabra communities. The two are the main ethnic groups inhabiting the county. Others include Rendille, Burji, Garre, Samburu and Turkana. Since end of last year fighting between the two communities had thrown Marsabit town and surrounding areas into turmoil forcing the Government to disarm the Kenya Police Reservists in a bid to establish the number of illegal firearms in the hands of civilians.
Politicians have been accused of fueling the conflict, in what has been widely seen as fight over political supremacy in the county.Resolving this decade-old conflict has turned into a nightmare to the Jubilee administration.
Yatani and current Governor, Mohamud Ali, are some of the key actors in the conflict. Yatani is a Gabra while Ali is a Borana.
Perceived domination of Borana in the current county leadership is what has triggered the current conflict that has left several people dead. Before the 2017 elections when Yatani was Governor, it was the other way round. Boranas had complained of isolation after Gabras formed a coalition with other communities in the county – taking over most of the elective seats in 2013. After alleging isolation and discrimination in allocation of resources, fighting erupted in this northern Kenya County that only ended following intervention by the military in December 2014.
The conflict has however kept on recurring but the situation has been relatively calm since Yatani’s new appointment.
Nightmare
It was a pleasant surprise to see leaders who previously did not see eye-to-eye with the Treasury CS were among the first people to voice gratitude to the Head of State for settling on Yatani to pilot a key ministry. Saku MP, Dido Raso and his Moyale counter part, Qualicha Gufu Wario were among those who hailed Yatani for his new appointment seen as a gift and recognition for northern Kenya.
Since independence, the region and its leaders has been alleging marginalization. No government, they say, has ever shown any seriousness in developing the region or treating its leaders’ with the same respect accorded others from the rest of Kenya.
The most senior cabinet position ever given to a leader from the north is Foreign Affairs, once held by the late BonayaGodana. He had been appointed to the position by former President Moi. Another senior minister duringMoi’s regime was former Dujis MP, Hussein Maalim Mohammed. He held several cabinet positions including minister in the Office of the President.
Raso and Wario who are Boranas have been mentioned as some of the protagonists in the Borana-Gabra conflict. The former issued a press statement welcoming the appointment while the latter joined other leaders from northern Kenya in Parliament buildings to thank the Head of State for his choice of Yatani.
The press conference was organized by North Horr MP Chachu Ganye and Isiolo women MP Rehema Jeldesa. Others at the press conference included Marsabit Senator, Abubakar Harugura and Laisamis MP Marselimo Arbelle. Both Harugura and Arbelle who are from the Rendille community have been on the warpath with Yatani and Ganye who like the Minister is a Gabra.
So for Ganye to speak jointly with other leaders from Marsabit was seen as a positive milestone.
The entire Marsabit leadership led by the Governor Ali had raised their voices to oppose decision by President Kenyatta to nominate Yatani as a labour CS.
By appointing him to the position after he failed to retain Marsabit gubernatorial seat the President, the leaders argued, was creating another centre of power in the County. Being susceptible to ethnic conflict, the leaders wanted the Head of State to rescind his decision and consider replacing Yatani with another person. They claimed that the former Governor was known to promote divisive politics blamed for clashes that had hit the area.
Plane Crash
Similar scenario was witnessed in Marsabit in 2006 when people anticipated a period of volatility following election of Yatani and other leaders to replace four MPs who had perished in a plane crash.
Surprisingly, the new leaders decided to work together. Marsabit has never enjoyed such a long period of peace before the ugly head of ethnic rivalry came again to haunt the county after the 2013 General Elections.
Yatani had in 2006 been elected North Horr MP in a by-election occasioned by the death of Godana who was at the timeKanu deputy chairman. He was among the MPs who died in the plane crash while flying to attend a peace meeting in Marsabit.
They were to meet and work out modalities of restoring peace following a series of clashes between the Gabra and Boranas, which started in 2004.
Other MP’s AbdiTariSasura (Saku), DrGurachaGalgalo (Moyale) who were both Boranas, and Titus Ngoyoni (Laisamis), a Rendille – had all ganged up against Godana. They accused him of using his influenceand position in government to promote the interests of his Gabra community.
The former minister however denied this and instead accused his parliamentary colleagues of inciting communities in the county against his Gabra people.
Local religious organizations backed by NGO’s working in the County to improve livelihoods of the pastoralists’ communities were keen on who should replace the four MPs.
If Gabra elders picked Yatani and their Borana counterparts settled on Hussein Sasura, the elder brother to the deceased MP Abdi, word went round that there would never be peace again the county.
Reason? As a district commissioner and most senior Gabra civil servant, Yatani was seen as a defender of his community against any aggression. Sasura on the other hand had identified himself as a champion of his community when he was an executive officer of the local Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut). In addition, rivalry between the late AbdiSasura and Godana was being blamed for the entire Borana-Gabra conflict.
The Narc administration under PresidentMwaiKibaki, settled on Yatani and Hussein Sasura as their candidates together with WarioMallaGalgalo, a younger brother ofDrGalgalo. The three secured Narc Kenya party tickets, which the Government allied MP’s supported at the time. And three candidates vied for North Horr, Saku and Moyale parliamentary seats respectively. Kanu, led by then opposition leader, Uhuru Kenyatta was defending the four seats but could not stop the Government candidates except in Laisamis.
On being appointed assistant minister for Science and Technology, Yatani received accolades from both Hussein Sasura and Galgalo. Joseph Lekuton who won on a Kanu ticket in Laisamis also threw his weight behind his North Horr colleague. And the four Marsabit MPs joined hands to preach peace. Whether the same scenario will play out remains to be seen.
