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NEWS & CURRENT AFFAIRS

The Nairobian

Seven schools closed as hundred flee tribal on Kilifi-Tana

Counties

By Marion Kithi | Mar 27, 2025

Ganze MP Kazungu Tungule together with the Kilifi security personnel holding a public baraza with the somali herders and the locals in Ganze ,Kilifi county following a tension over the disappearance of a herder in the area. [Marion Kithi ,Standard]

Seven schools have been closed in the volatile parts of Ganza and Magarini constituencies along the Kilifi and Tana River border as tension rose over a possible return of tribal clashes.

On Tuesday, over 100 armed herders surrounded Lagobaya village in Kilifi after one of them was attacked by the farmers over grazing rights.

The whereabouts of the herder is unknown, but police found his bloody clothes in a thicket on Tuesday evening, raising fears that he may be dead or badly injured.

At least three farmers have been killed in the last two months, according to the locals, who accused the security team of ignoring signs of an impending conflict.

Yesterday, Kilifi County Commissioner Josphat Biwott said two people were arrested over the disappearance of the herder. “A Somali herder was grazing and his cows trespassed into somebody’s property and the owner of the farm assaulted him, and his whereabouts are still unknown,” he said.

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The affected schools are Muryachakwe, Gabina, Milore Ranch, Upendo Junior, and Mrima wa Ndege primary schools. Others are the Ambassador Kithi Secondary School and Bofu Primary School.

At Muryachakwe Hospital, patients were turned away as nurses and doctors fled the area, fearing for their safety.

On Wednesday, Biwott said the security team was doing all it could to ensure that learning resumes. He called on parents to allow their children to go to school, saying police officers had been dispatched to provide security in the affected institutions.

However, some families who fled their homes are yet to return, and the parents say the conflict has made children nervous and emotionally distraught.

General Service Unit officers were deployed Wednesday to monitor the situation.

While the locals claimed that herders invaded their farms, some herders alleged they pay local chiefs and some farmers to be allowed to graze.

Biwott confirmed that the herders usually pay, adding that the problem arose after the animals trespassed on other farms.

‘’We have agreed with herders that they should respect people’s farms, and also we told the landowners to consider the size of the land before leasing it. You cannot lease a small grazing land to someone with over 100 cows and expect that person to maintain boundaries,” he said.

Further, he said the area security committee, herders and landowners would meet tomorrow to find a long-lasting solution ahead of the planting season.

Sokoke Ward MCA Thaura Mweni accused some local chiefs of fuelling the situation by signing the grazing agreements without proper planning. He said locals lease their lands for as low as Sh2,000.

‘’Three months ago a woman was killed in Sokoke by the herders, and in retaliation, the locals killed a herder, and afterward another local was killed,’’ said Taura.

Adu Ward MCA Samson Zia termed the situation grave, saying children forced out of school were at the risk of teen pregnancies and early marriages.

Kilifi assembly Speaker Teddy Mwambire said the perennial conflicts over grazing land had adversely affected education in the area since 1990s.

“On Wednesday, some families fled to far areas, including Shakahola forest, for fear of attacks from the herder who had surrounded their villages. All schools in the area are closed.”