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ABSTRACT
Africa’s international borders have been sites of inter-ethnic and inter-state relations and media for material and cultural exchange. Drawing on archival materials and interviews, the article illustrates how decades of cross-border insecurity and violence from livestock raiding and tension over pasture and water resources have entrenched a consciousness within a marginalized Turkana community that critiques the role of the modern state as protector and provider. Their views are reinforced by a colonial legacy of marginalization of Turkana based on a hostile geographical environment, a vulnerable pastoral economy, and Turkana’s peripheral location relative to the center of political decision-making – Nairobi. Starved of development and provision of necessities since colonial times, Turkana have appropriated episodic insecurity from cross-border violence to underline the need for government to protect and provide basic infrastructure. In the process, the article reflects on the weaknesses or incapacities of the modern African state to deal with legacies of colonial administrative and development challenges in areas considered peripheral to the mainstream state.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Collins, “The Illemi Triangle,” 5–12; Nene, Illemi Triangle; Nene, Bandits on the Border.
2 For instance, Vaughan, Schomerus, and De Vries, The Borderlands of South Sudan.
3 Oba, Nomads in the Shadows of Empires.
4 See Nugent and Asiwanju, African Boundaries.
5 Johannes, Zulu, and Kalipeni, “Oil Discovery in Turkana County,” 142–64.
6 David Herbling and Paul Burkhardt, “Tullow's Kenya Oil Operations Threatened as Impasse Endures.” Bloomberg, 18 July 2018. Accessed 21 May 2020. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-17/tullow-oil-may-halt-turkana-operations-in-kenya-over-impasse.
7 Chabal, The Politics of Suffering, 15.
8 Amutabi, The NGO Factor in Africa, xxxi. For the disconnect between NGOs and communities, see Power, Maury, and Maury, “Operationalizing Bottom-up Learning.”
9 Bond and Mkutu, “A ‘Patchwork’ for Peace,” 308.
10 For instance, Oba, Nomads in the Shadows of Empires, 1, 59–88, 89–114.
11 Butler and Gates, “African Range Wars,” 24. For case studies on northern Kenya, see Schlee, “Territorializing Ethnicity”; Oba, “Shifting Identities”; and Oba, “Colonial Resource Capture.”
12 Mamdani, “Karamoja,” 67–9. For Turkana, see Hendrickson, Mearns, and Armon, “Livestock Raiding,” 23.
13 Scott, Seeing Like a State, 2.
14 Merry and Coutin, “Technologies of Truth,” 1. As regards northern Kenya, see Galaty, “Boundary Making and Pastoral Conflict.”
15 Butler and Gates, “African Range Wars,” 23–34.
16 Oloka-Onyango, Zie, and Muhereza, Pastoralism, Crisis, and Transformation, 4.
17 Czuba, “Karamojan Politics,” 567–8.
18 Oba, Nomads in the Shadows of Empires.
19 Eaton. “The Rise of the ‘Traider’,” 107–9.
20 Greiner, Bollig, and McCabe, “Notes on Land-based Conflicts,” 78, 80.
21 Boone, “Territorial Politics,” 625, 637.
22 Lind, “Devolution,” 136.
23 Among other works on this, see Catley, Lind, and Scoones, Pastoralism and Development.
24 Knighton, “Belief in Guns,” 275; Tapscott, “The Government Has Long Hands.”
25 Whittaker, “Legacies of Empire,” 383.
26 Feyissa and Hoehne, “State Borders and Borderlands as Resources,” 2.
27 Vaughan, Schomerus, and De Vries, The Borderlands of South Sudan, 2, 12.
28 Focused Group Discussion (FGD), Lokiriama, 30 January 2014; FGD, Namoruputh, 30 January 2014; FGD, Lorengippi, 31 January 2014; FGD (with local women), Todenyang and Loarengak, 13 February 2014; FGD, Oropoi, 22 February 2014. All transcribed notes and recorded interviews are with the author.
29 This has persisted across the Kenya-Uganda border involving the Tepeth, Pokot and Turkana. Eaton, “The Business of Peace.”
30 For an early account of these aspects, see Gulliver, The Family Herds and Lamphear, “The People of the Grey Bull.”
31 Lochimoe Edom, Oral Interview, Oropoi, Turkana County, 22 February 2014.
32 FGD, Lokiriama, 30 January 2014; Achemee Lokuwon and Maraka Lomariakipi, Oral Interview, Lobei, 31 January 2014. Turkana have also been responsible for raiding communities across the border.
33 Uganda National Archives (UNA)/S7326 I, Security in Karamoja District, 4 September 1958; UNA/S7362 I, PC Eastern Province, Uganda to Permanent Secretary and External Relations, Entebbe, 11 July 1960.
34 Turkana Provincial Political Records, 1931, Kenya National Archives (hereafter KNA)/DC/TURK/1/4; Turkana District Annual Report, 1932, KNA/DC/TUR/1/3; Turkana District Annual Report, 1933 KNA/DC/TURK/1/2.
35 Turkana District Annual Report, 1938; Turkana District Annual Report, 1939 both in KNA/DC/TUR/1/7.
36 Kokoi Namojong, Oral Interview, Lorengippi, 31 January 2014.
37 Northern Turkana Annual Report, 1928, KNA/DC/TURK/1/2.
38 Uganda National Archives, UNA/C739 II.
39 Turkana District Annual Report, 1929, KNA/DC/TUR/1/2.
40 Turkana District Political Records, 1933 KNA/DC/TURK/1/2.
41 Provincial Commissioner, Eastern Province, Uganda, to Permanent Secretary, External Relations, Entebbe, 11 July 1960, UNA/S/7326 I; Karamoja District Memo, Northern Province, 16 March 1961, UNA/REL12/5.
42 Whittaker. “Legacies of Empire,” 644.
43 Acting Governor, Uganda Protectorate, Telegram to the Governor General at Khartoum, 13 June 1927, UNA/C/739 II.
44 DC Karamoja, Letter to Permanent Secretary for Security and External Relations, Entebbe, 9 July 1960, UNA/S7326 I.
45 For an informative administrative history of the Illemi Triangle, see Collins, “The Illemi Triangle” and Nene, “Contemporary Banditry in the Horn of Africa.”
46 Governor, Uganda Protectorate, to Chief Secretary, Entebbe, Uganda, 6 June 1960, UNA/S/7326I; Collins, “The Illemi Triangle,” 9.
47 Record of Meeting Held in Moroto on 23 June 1960, between Kenya and Uganda Officials to Discuss the Security Situation between the Turkana and Dodoth; DC Karamoja, Letter to Permanent Secretary for Security and External Relations, Entebbe, 9 July 1960, UNA/S7326 I.
48 Natedek Nakanyi and Emael Kalei, Oral Interviews, Loarengak, 12 February 2014.
49 Turkana Province Annual Report, 1931, KNA/DC/TURK/1/2; Turkana District Annual Report, 1934, KNA/DC/TURK/1/3.
50 Provincial Commissioner, Eastern Province, Uganda Protectorate, to Permanent Secretary and External Relations, Entebbe, 11 July 1960.
51 For an elaboration on these measures in Karamoja Province, Uganda, late 1950s and early 1960s, see Provincial Commissioner, Eastern Province, Uganda Protectorate, to Permanent Secretary and External Relations, Entebbe, 11 July 1960.
52 Northern Turkana Annual Report, 1926 and 1928, KNA/DC/TURK/1/2.
53 Turkana Province Annual Report, 1929, KNA/DC/TURK/1/4.
54 Turkana District Annual Report, 1943, KNA/DC/ TURK/1/7; Turkana District Annual Report 1949, KNA/DC/TURK/1/9; Turkana District Annual Report 1958, KNA/DC/TURK/1/10.
55 Government of Kenya, The National Assembly, August 1964, 946–1947.
56 Government of Kenya, The National Assembly, October 1964, 3460–1.
57 Government of Kenya, The National Assembly, August 1964, 952.
58 Government of Kenya, The National Assembly, February 1965, 346–7.
59 Ibid., 348–9.
60 Henriksen, Economic Growth, 1.
61 Oba, “Ecological Factors,” 18–20.
62 Insecurity in Todenyang, has led many Turkana residents to relocate as “internally displaced persons” south to Loaregank. FGD, Loarengak, 11 February 2014. See also United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Kenya: cross-Border Conflict, 12 May 2011.
63 FGD, Loaregank, 11 February 2014; Teresa Ekwom, Oral Interview, Loaregank, 13 February 2014.
64 FGD, Lowaregank, 11 February 2014; Nancy Mukoo, Oral Interview, Loarengak, 12 February 2014.
65 FGD, Lokiriama, 30 January 2014; Cecilia Nakwawi and Phili Lokoyen, Oral Interviews, Lokiriama, 30 January 2014.
66 Davis Wafula, Chief Executive Director, Agency for Pastoralists Development (APAD), Oral Interview, Lodwar, Turkana, 27 January 2014; Paul Otiang’a and Amodoi Lwenyang, Oral Interviews, Moroto, Uganda, 7 February 2014.
67 Lokwayen Sikiria, Eworon Emun, and Mary Ikolom, Oral Interviews, Lokiriama, 30 January 2014; James Edapal, Oral Interview, Lorengippi, 31 January 2014; Joseph Lochoro, Oral Interview, Kaboong, Uganda, 11 March 2013.
68 FGD, Reformed Youth, Lodiko Sub-County, Kaboong, Uganda, 11 March 2014; Lokol Mariko and Kiyonga Emanuela, Oral Interviews, Lodiko Sub-County, Kaboong, Uganda, 11 March 2014.
69 FGD, Lokiriama, 30 January 2014; Achemee Lokuwon and Maraka Lomariakipi, Oral Interview, Lobei, 31 January 2014.
70 Witsenburg and Adano, “Of Rain and Raids.”
71 FGD, Disarmed Warriors, Kaboong, Uganda, 10 March 2014; Lokidi Japesa Nalibe and Longeri Longorikori, Oral Interviews, Kaboong, Uganda, 10 March 2014; Mary Adoket, Oral interview, Laorengank, Turkana County, 13 February 2014; Emael Kalei, Oral interview, Lowareng/Todenyang, Turkana County, 12 February 2014.
72 For instance, Stites and Akabwai. “‘We are Now Reduced to Women’”; Akabwai and Ateyo, The Scramble for Cattle. For a detailed discussion on armed conflict in the region, see Mkutu, “Small Arms.”
73 For details see Greiner, “Guns, Land, and Votes.”
74 Butler and Gates, “The African Range Wars,” 25.
75 Kokoi Namojong, Oral Interview, Lorengippi, 31 January 2015.
76 Philip Lokwayen, Oral Interview, Lokiriama, 30 January 2015.
77 Lokwayen Sikiria, Oral Interview, Lokiriama, 30 January 2015. Many Turkana in western Turkana consider 1962 cross-border conflicts to have coincided with severe drought, food relief efforts, more insecurity, and the folding up of British colonial presence in the border areas as decolonization unfolded.
78 This feeling was clear among all the FGDs held in Lokiriama, Namoruputh, Lorengippi, Lobei, Loarengak, Letea, and Oropoi centers. It was corroborated by FGDs in Karamoja, Uganda, especially by the Dodoth Elders at Kabong, 11 March 2014.
79 Joseph Lomoe, Oral Interview, Kaboong, 11 March 2014.
80 Eaton, “The Business of Peace,” 109.
81 FGD, Dodoth Elders, Kabbong, Uganda, 11 March 2014; FGD, Moroto, Uganda, 7 February 2014. On details regarding NRM’s disarmament of Karamoja, see Howe, Sites, and Akabwai, “We Now Have Relative Peace.”
82 IRIN News, The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 29 July 2011
83 FGD, Lokiriama, 30 January 2014; FGD, Namoruputh, 30 January 2014; Paul Otita and Zacharia Ocheyi, Oral Interview, 7 February 2014.
84 FGD, Lokiriama, 30 January 2014; FGD, Namoruputh, 30 January 2014; FGD, Lorengippi, 31 January 2014; FGD, Lobei, 31 January 2014.
85 FGD, Locational Peace Committee, Loarengak, 12 February 2014; FGD, Women, Loarengak, 13 February 2014.
86 This view was widely expressed by most of the FDGs in the eight locations that were visited by the author.
87 Oral interview with FGD, Lokiriama, 30 January 2014.
88 Oral Interview, District Officer, Lokitaung, North Turkana, 13 February 2014.
89 Butler and Gates, “African Range Wars,” 25.
90 Remarks by a local District Officer, Peace-Building Workshop, Lodwar (Turkana), 30 July 2014. The author helped organize and attended this Workshop.
91 Lind, “Devolution,” 137–45.
92 Executive Director, SAPCONE, Oral Interview, Lodwar, 7 February 2014; Davis Wafula, Executive Director, APaD, Oral Interview, Lodwar, 27 January 2014.
93 Emmanuel Erega, Executive Officer, LOPEO, Oral Interview, Lokichoggio, 22 February 2014; FGD, LOPEO, Lokichoggio, 22 February 2014.
94 Benson Otoke, Finance Administrator, KOPEIN, Kotido, Uganda, Oral Interview, 10 March 2014; Executive Director, DADO, Oral Interview, Kaboong, Uganda, 11 March 2014; Lokidi Japesa Naliba, Oral Interview, Kaboong, Uganda, 11 March 2014.
95 Cecilia Nakwawi, Oral Interview, Lokiriama, 30 January 2014.
96 Among others, see Eaton, “The Business of Peace,” 105–9.
97 Buchanan-Smith and Lind, “Arned Violence,” 27.
98 Bond and Mkutu, “A ‘Patchwork’ for Peace,” 308; Cleaver and Franks, How Institutions Elude Design, 6.
99 FGD, Lokiriama, 30 January 2014; FGD Namoruputh, 30 January 2014; FGD Lorengippi, 31 January 2014; FGD Lobei, 31 January 2014.
100 Benson Otoke, Administrator, KOPEIN, Kotido, Uganda, Oral Interview, 10 March 2014; Joseph Lochoro Lokamar, Peace Committee Member, DADO, Oral Interview, Kaboong, Uganda, 11 March 2014.