The Well-organized Wreakage of Human Lives
The Kenyan media persistently portray the massive cattle thefts and loss of human life as the result of singular, random tribal raids. As the friend of Dominic describes below, the violence is systematic and planned. Below is more information on the human aftershocks of the September 7th massacre at Losesia. The use of high-powered weaponry, an orchestrated system of livestock removal, the hands of members of Kenya’s government (plus proxies, the mercenary Oromo Liberation Front) and the sophisticated feeding of misinformation on the Samburu to the unquestioning Kenyan national media: these elements have been seen before with other attacks. The planned, coordinated nature of these “cattle raids” and the wreakage of human lives left behind are marks of genocide.
‘WHAT REALLY HAPPEN IN LOSESIA MASSACRE.
The day I went to Losesia was on Sunday 7th, it was all sorrows, hopelessness as people flock Archer’s Post looking after lost children. It’s one of the biggest raids ever done by the Borana [another tribe in the area] in recent times. I went straight down having heard that my two brothers were last seen before cows were driven away by OLF (Oromo Liberation Front) and Boranas with no whereabouts of my little brothers who were dispersed by bullets as they awake from sleep. Some run away without clothes. It was a well planned raid — my brother was telling me it was ‘jeshi (Army) as it worked under different departments.
There are those to kill, those to cook as others fight, (neibung lkule ng’uron airotoki ndaa, sufurias, lalema, masaa) others are busy loading donkeys with all that people had. As fighting goes on a vehicle (a land rover) arrives with water, foods and lorries [trucks] sent to pick some animals soon followed. They had sophisticated weapons that couldn’t have any resistance from our people. I found my brother with only a (kikoi,) his knife, clothes telephone were taken. He was hopeless: all our cows 120, goats 250, donkeys 12 were taken. Our family was left to await starvation, my education left in jeopardy.
[One] clan slept in the (mijoni) empty manyatta [house] two days as they had nowhere to go. It was us who picked them. On Monday, followed the KTN (Kenya Television Network) depicting Samburu as Waasi (rebels) and destroyers of Shaba Reserve [a conservation/game reserve]… Prior to the Raid….KTN….was taken for an aerial view of Samburus in Losesia and Naishiamunye, just 12 hours before the raid. Then it was followed by government forces forcefully removing Samburus along the banks of Waso Nyiro just below Archers Post.
It was well planned. The Ministry of Livestock was buying livestock that same week from all districts where our animals went. It was just a day when KMC (Kenya Meat Commission) landed in Isiolo. The scene was so bad as bodies of our two brothers lie, guys I’ve known all my life and eaten with. [One particular family] was worst hit…All the dead people, animals in the scene were applied: some said [it] to be (nkurupore) witchcraft.The OLF had killed a big he goat and littered its meat, (manyit) intestines everywhere to symbolize their rituals. It was pathetic and few could face the scene. The people left with animals were driving up towards Wamba, at the mercy of devastating drought.’”
[Note: Dominic L. has given permission to use his name here. It is SaveSamburu blog policy not to use names unless permission has been received. His friend, who wrote the main account above, has not and so is left safely anonymous. The accounts above have been lightly edited for grammar, punctuation and occasional insertion of words/meanings which might otherwise be unfamiliar to the non-Kenyan reader. Roxanne]
