29 October 2008
Nairobi — Western Province borders Uganda to the west, Nyanza Province to the south and Rift Valley to the east. The province is home to the Luhya community. The Luhyas are divided into various sub-groups.
Though the rural parts are largely homogeneous, there are parts of the province which have settlement schemes inhabited by people from diverse ethnic origins. The urban centres are also ethnically mixed.
The province comprises 19 districts, namely, Bungoma East, Bungoma West, Bungoma North, Bungoma South, Busia, Samia, Bunyala, Butere, Mumias, Kakamega South, Kakamega North, Kakamega East, Kakamega Central, Lugari, Mt Elgon, Teso, Vihiga, Hamisi and Emuhaya.
Militia group
The mountainous and agriculturally-rich Mt Elgon District has been at the centre of a long standing dispute over land and cattle rustling between the Sabaot and other ethnic communities - Bukusu, Ndorobo, Teso, Kikuyu and Luo.
The dispute has pitted security forces of the Government of Kenya against a proscribed militia group, the Sabaot Land Defence Force (SLDF).
Because the problems associated with violence in Mt Elgon predated the elections, the Commission was unable to establish any link with the 2007 post-election violence (PEV) and therefore did not integrate it into investigation of PEV in the region.
It was the evidence of General Mutinda Kianga, the Chief of General Staff of the Kenya Armed Forces, that the conflict in Mt Elgon started long before the elections and continued even after the post-election violence.
We were of the view that the issues concerning Mt Elgon were of such magnitude that the Commission could not delve into them, given its limited mandate, time and resources.
Western Province has not been spared the scourge of previous incidents of tribal clashes occurring particularly in 1992 and 1997.
The Kiliku Report and Akiwumi Report identified some of the areas that were the subject of previous clashes in the province.
Hunger for land
In the Kiliku Report, the then Mt Elgon sub-district in Bungoma was cited as having been rocked by ethnic clashes.
The Report attributed the clashes to a number of factors including hunger for land by the Sabaot, who felt neglected by the Government in that they had not been considered for settlement schemes like other communities.
The region affected by the clashes during the period covered by the Report now lies in Mt Elgon District, which, for the reasons stated above, is not within the ambit of this report.
The Akiwumi Report indicated that the clashes in Western Province occurred in the old Bungoma District, and to a very large extent in the old Kakamega District, along the Nandi escarpment, which constitutes the boundary between Kakamega and Nandi districts.
The causes were incessant disputes over land, which was then exploited by politicians at the introduction of multiparty politics in Kenya.
There was also violence as a result of the spill-over effects of the neighbouring conflict-prone Trans Nzoia District in Rift Valley.
Information presented to the Commission revealed a longstanding history of resentment against the Kikuyu, ostensibly because of their perceived hegemony in political and economic areas at the expense of the indigenous communities.
When a heavy deployment of security officers, who were perceived to be agents of the PNU party, was noticed in the province ahead of the elections, it only served to accentuate the rumours that the PNU party was planning to rig the elections, with the help of the State apparatus.
Political rivalry
The delayed release of the presidential results was therefore seen against this light and later, against that of the events occurring at the election tallying centre at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, which served to heighten tensions.
The period before the elections was generally considered peaceful apart from incidences relating to political rivalry between candidates and their supporters.
From the evidence presented, these incidents were within the competence of the security forces to control and were dealt with accordingly.
Evidence was submitted to the effect that the violence in Western Province predated the General Election.
On December 18, 2007, at Harambee market, East Kabras Location in Kakamega District, campaign vehicles belonging to Malava ODM parliamentary candidate Musavini Nambwa were burnt when his convoy was ambushed at a roadblock created by youth allegedly allied to New Ford Kenya.
The angry youth also set ablaze a sugar plantation in search of Nambwa, who they believed had taken refuge in it.
On December 23, 2007, youths shouting PNU slogans stoned vehicles on the Eldoret-Bungoma highway as they tried to block ODM supporters from travelling from Bungoma to Webuye.
This prompted intervention by police officers and running battles ensued. Post-election violence in Western Province was characterised by burning, looting and vandalising of property belonging to the Kikuyu community.
One such incident was in Khwisero constituency where supporters of Mr Bulimo of ODM and Mr Julius Akaranga (Narc) clashed during an ODM political rally.
The most affected towns were Kakamega, Mumias, Bungoma, Mbale, Lugari, Busia and Vihiga.
The provincial commissioner, Mr Abdul Khalfan Mwasera, noted in his evidence that during pre-election planning, his team was mainly concerned about the violence erupting in the urban centres of Busia, Mumias and Kakamega as there had been pre-election tension.
The PC testified that post-election violence started in Mumias District on December 27, 2007, following suspicion of ballot boxes having been hidden in the house of Joseph Mbacio Thiru, a businessman in Mumias Town.
Members of the public proceeded to his premises, searched the house but found nothing.
The public, composed of rowdy, stone wielding youths, chanting anti-PNU slogans, began looting the house and in no time the rioters damaged his pick-up and burnt another and set ablaze his house after emptying it of its contents.
According to the PC, the police managed to quell the disorder. Tension and anxiety grew as the election results continued to trickle in.
The provincial criminal investigations officer, Mr Patrick Mugo Muhuni, told the Commission that on December 28, 2007, youths assembled into groups and ran along the streets of Kakamega Town shouting ODM slogans and praising the party presidential candidate, every time the television stations announced results in which their party or candidate had emerged victorious.
The Commission was told that the violence in Budalang'i, Busia District, erupted on December 29, 2007' where it is alleged that armed supporters of PNU candidate Raphael Wanjala shot a civilian in the area dead.
This was followed by a retaliatory attack by supporters of the rival candidate, Ababu Namwamba, but police managed to control the latter's supporters and restore order.
However, the patterns shifted on December 30 when it became obvious that the violence now targeted the property of the Kikuyu population.
At Site and Service Scheme Plot No 100, in Mumias, rowdy youths invaded the home of Joel Ng'ang'a Wairire, and burnt two vehicles before looting his house and setting it ablaze.
They also gutted a supermarket he owned at Shibale market, and had his 35 acres of sugarcane and five acres of eucalyptus trees smothered.
The road infrastructure in the province was affected as protesters burnt tyres on the roads and mounted illegal roadblocks.
The major roads affected were Kisumu-Kakamega; Kakamega-Mumias; Kakamega-Eldoret. The road destined to Uganda was also greatly affected.
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