Kenya Police brutality! Rape and mass punishment of Samburu.

: weapon-collectionpic

One of the most marginalize indigenous people of Kenya are facing what many human rights organizations term as, a state directed suppression in the name of disarmament.

For a long time now, Samburu East(S.E) has been under the brutal hand of the Kenyan security force dispatched to disarm the ethnic groups in the north from illicit weapon. The operations have been on and off almost a decade now but was intensified since 2006.
Samburu ethnic group were disarmed while the Kibaki government heavily armed the Somalia, Borana and Pokot ethnic groups bordering Samburu. Reports from the mainstream channels have also been indicating that Kenya has been secretly training jobless Somali youth in the refugee camps.

This action weakened Samburu and indeed, created severe suffering resulting from organized attacks from the other armed groups. Personally, I want to live in a weapon free society so I dislike the idea of armed community. We are witnessing the devastation caused by availability of illicit weapons in the hands of careless individuals who are out to create havoc.
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But why not disarm all ethnic groups at the same time? Given our knowledge of ethnic polarity in the region, shouldn’t the East African authority operate a synchronized disarmament in all East African countries, and implement a regional system to curb the flow of illicit weapon from countries like Yemen?

Why did the government disarmed Samburu while at the same time armed neighboring ethnic groups? This has been one of the main question ever since the Samburu disarmament. Is it the Samburu people who are the problem, or the illicit weapon in the entire Northern frontier? If suggesting the latter, why is it so?

The propensity of security officers to use force against the indigenous people in northern Kenya asserts that the internal security seem to be deployed for another agenda than protecting the citizens as it is supposed to.
While I was writing this, a short report was relayed to me from human rights activist who flew to Samburu East this week to, if not anything, document the operation. (Thank you guys for your brave hearts)
Below is the blackberry message I received from one of the brave hearts from Lolokue, a continuous voice for the voiceless in (S.E);
Brave heart writes:-Am interviewing victims now for two days straight and with many tears. They (police forces) ripped the hair of three years lengths from Moran’s(warrior’s) head and beat them until thought dead, mixed ugali with tobacco to ruin mothers foods, beat women with rungus, and stolen everything, burned bomas.
The nature of police brutality against the Samburu people reflect the systematic suppression of Samburu society.
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Some natives says that they are being targeted because they are regarded as a liability, less productive, therefore not viable for Kenyan economy.

It doesn’t matter that an above average percent of meat and meat products is produced by the nomadic Samburu. Neither does it seem to play any role that Maa/Samburu’s image is all over the world, attracting both foreign and domestic tourism that earns Kenya solid income annually. If only we got respect for that….
Common sense tells me that Samburu’s culture by itself, is a pure environmental friendly and sustainable Gold mine for the entire country. It beats all logic that Kenya wants to be seen as working to thematically and dis-respectfully dissolve this majestic culture for good.
Kenya is known for its BIG 5 and the Maasai/Samburu. Kenyan tourism department doesn’t have to invest heavily in “selling Kenya” as long as the Maasai/Samburu people exist. It is obvious that a Safari package in Kenya shall include a visit to an often referred as, authentic Maasai/Samburu Manayatta/Boma. It is only then, that the tourist claims to have been in Africa on a successful Safari where they saw lions, elephants.. and the “Maasaiwarrior”.
It stuns my imagination though, that an agrarian country like Kenya fails to realize that a farmer does not slaughter her milk cow! She feeds and caress it, to produce more milk!
As per short reports coming in from social media like face-book, twitter and blogs, for the last 1 year, I am made to belief that, these police brutality are sanctioned to undermine the indigenous Samburu in the Eastern side of the greater Samburu District.
Brave heart message continues to read as follows;
-This is no operation for disarming. Not one person was asked for a gun or to why they were being terrorized. Police are in small bands everywhere. Have been assisting raped women to get medical care, as well as the injured. The children no longer smiling’ not even for sweets. One elder said in a meeting last night he feared it was the end of Samburu’s way of life.

Earlier reports states that police were taking away people’s mobile phones and all other possible communication gadgets to prevent information dissemination. The mobile network in Samburu East is also very poor, activists have to walk around in search for a strong network so that they can send this messages to us.
It is my prayers that the human rights foot soldiers now in Samburu stay save and continue doing the good job you are doing. Continue updating us whenever you can, but please, keep yourself save, if you can.
I also appeal to the internal security minister together with his assistant Minister to sincerely take head and act now to save Samburu East from mass punishment.
Common sense tells me that, this campaign is as personal as my own life, because Samburu East basic rights are abused and so are mine!