Muchemi Wachira, Sam Kiplagat and Benjamin Muindi
2 November 2008
Nairobi — Former Mandera MP Billow Kerrow will on Monday be charged with inciting violence and disobeying the law.
Mr Kerrow, who was arrested on Friday and set free on Saturday night said on Sunday that police told him they would prefer the incitement charges against him.
Uttering the same words that led to his arrest, he called on the Government to immediately stop the military operation in Mandera District.
"Men are being rounded up and taken to camps where they are beaten and maimed. And women are being raped. They say they have been raped by people wearing the crown," Mr Kerrow said.
These are the same words he uttered at a press conference on Friday, prompting officers from the Criminal Investigations Department to arrest him.
He said police had initially told him they would charge him with causing a disturbance likely to cause a breach of the peace before they amended the charge.
Mr Kerrow said nothing will stop him from speaking against the military operation in Mandera, which is aimed at disarming locals following violent clashes between two rival clans.
He announced that Mandera residents will sue those committing atrocities during the operation and have hired a lawyer.
Among those who will be taken to court are Defence minister Yusuf Haji and the provincial security team. The former MP urged the Government to form a commission of inquiry to find out the causes of the fighting.
However, a member of the arbitration committee between the Garre and Murulle clans, said failure to implement an agreement signed by the two feuding clans is to blame for the hostilities.
Sheikh Ahmed Takoy said Mandera will know no peace until the 2005 recommendations on clan-fighting are implemented.
"A lot of atrocities have been committed in Mandera in the last three months and it is unfortunate the Government has decided to turn a blind eye on the plight of the people," Sheikh Takoy said.
He said the ongoing military operation is raising concern about the Government's intentions, and questioned the professionalism of the soldiers who he accused of torturing residents.
Peace initiatives
In 2005, the two clans battled for four months in a conflict that saw a number of people killed.
After a series of local peace initiatives headed by religious leaders, the two clans agreed to stop fighting and signed the Mandera Peace Accord on April 22 that year.
The Government failed to enforce the accord. Sheikh Takoy said transport services between Mandera and the rest of the country had been cut after the only bus that goes to the area was taken off the road.
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