Ahmed
Sheikh recounts a harrowing narrative of Mandera’s bitter past of pain … a
history of war, massacres, degradation
and under development by successive
regimes to a renewed hope of a new dawn ushered in by the new Constitution
and the devolved system of governance.
Mandera
County’s colonisation was different from the rest of the
region then called the East Africa protectorate. Proximity
to two volatile borders of Abyssinnia (Ethiopia) and Italian Somalia meant Mandera
was to be handled differently. Greater Somalia
was partitioned into three—British
Somalia, which included Ogaden region
of Ethiopia; Djibouti was French Somalia;
while South Central Somalia was colonised
by Italy.
The area was named Northern Frontier District (NFD)
because of this proximity. It had an administrator and was used as a buffer zone
to stop the advancement of Abysinnia
and the Italians southwards.
As a way of stopping Abyssinia and Italians from
encroachment, NFD took its own
colonial administration. During negotiations for independence, the colonial
administration proposed that it could hold on to the area as Italy had conceded
independence to Somalia and Abysinnia.
In 1962 a
referendum, one of the first in the Eastern Africa region, that gave the people
three choices NFD to remain independent, join Somalia or
Kenya was conducted. It was done on
behalf of the colonial office by Nigeria
and Canada. Three things
informed the voting decision.
When making their decision, NFD people felt they
were completely cut off from Kenya. There was a pervading perception that they
were part of Somalia because of ethnicity but had weak institutions to manage
independence as they had high illiteracy levels. Whereas 85 per cent wanted to
join Somalia, the British
colonialists never honoured the verdict. They sat with the Kenyan government
to ensure their interests would remain protected, as NFD became part of Kenya.
In 1963 they asked the new Kenyan leaders to devise a strategy on
how to make NFD part of Kenya.
They wanted to partition NFD into two parts: Wajir,
Garissa and Mandera were to
become a new entity called North Eastern
Province (NEP) while Moyale, Marsabit and Isiolo were carved out to form part of Eastern Province.
After partitioning it, it dawned on the Somalia government that the outcome of
the referendum was not going to be respected. They mobilised people to fight for
liberation and hence the ‘Shifta War’ and protests in the 1960s and 1970s.
The newly independent Somalia mobilised her residents to fight Kenyan authorities using Shifta guerillas before the locals were
herded into villages, which were virtually concentration camps.
In the early 1960s,
the region started relying on famine relief and food aid and never recovered
from the villagisation strategy. The other
strategy the government used to contain the people was to categorise them into
what was classified as a prohibited zone.
Sharing the Somali
language because of their close proximity to Somalia, the Borana-speaking
communities were herded into Eastern Province to the so called ‘proscribed districts’. And then there
were contagious districts influenced by NFD
like Tana River and Lamu and who had their own sets of
laws.
They were given powers to shoot and kill and severe
suppression ensued. To further marginalise the region, Sessional Paper Number 10 of
1965 prescribed a legalisation of marginalisation of the NEP from the rest of Kenya. The paper
kept on informing decisions of successive governments on NEP.
When Kenyans talked of independence in 1963, we
did not. It is only now in Mandera that we are talking of one year of independence since the
advent of devolution. We lagged behind in development and when Kenyans talk about najivunia kuwa mkenya (being proud of being Kenyan) we
spoke of kuvumilia (persevering)
being Kenyans.
We got independence on August 27, 2010 with the promulgation of the new Constitution. The
passion for devolution and high expectations are unprecedented. We were
shunned, neglected conned and betrayed. But we are now smart and we can never
be conned or be betrayed again. It is either devolution or revolution.
There was a lot of social
segregation in terms of accessing legal documents of citizenship, jobs and basic
services.
For a long time we were considered as a pariah people, sub-nationals without rights and privileges who pegged their hopes on
those who were in leadership. It took me
four years to get a passport that other
Kenyans could get it in days. We went through trauma, curfews and massacres. Abdi Madobe was arrested and harassed
by security agents, accused of being a poacher. There was no legal remedy. He escaped
from jail and what he could not get legally, he resorted to the law of the jungle taking arms to seek
justice.
This single incident invited the wrath of the
country in punishing the entire Somali
people collectively. They imposed dusk-to-dawn curfews in NEP. Why would the issue of an individual cause pain to a whole
community? This is what caused the Garissa Massacre. Then
there was the Wagalla Massacre
resulting from the ethnic clashes between Degodia
and the Ajuran. Hundreds died or disappeared
and the impact is still being felt to date.
This was revenge under the cover of repressive laws.
Many other incidents of marginalisation, killings and torture abound. The local
media ignored us and only international media glimpsed through the issues. We are beginning to tell the world our story
and we cannot allow the forces of betrayal and impunity to kill our hopes by stifling devolution. We cannot go back to the
dark old days of suppression and segregation. It is devolution or revolution!
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