MISERY LOVES COMPANY: DROUGHT AND CONFLICT IN

UNCLAS NAIROBI 001237

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV SENV PINS ECON MARR KE
SUBJECT: MISERY LOVES COMPANY: DROUGHT AND CONFLICT IN
MANDERA

REF: NAIROBI 1019


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Harsh drought conditions in Mandera
district are having a devastating effect on livestock and
their owners. While the deprivations of the drought have
alleviated some of the causes of inter-clan conflicts in the
area, the loss of livestock (and the income generated
thereby) is resulting in the displacement of erstwhile
herders which threatens to heighten tensions in the future.
However, increasing educational opportunities may mitigate
this problem in the longer-term by presenting viable
alternatives to pastoral systems. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) Poloff and Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa
(CJTF-HOA) Civil Affairs Team-A615 Leader toured torrid,
dusty Mandera District (estimated pop. 250,000),one of four
districts in North Eastern Province, March 5-6. Mandera
District is home to ethnic Somalis who are nomadic
pastoralists or agro-pastoralists, and located at the
intersection of Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya. The team
visited Mandera Town, a hodgepodge collection of dusty
concrete one-story structures and mud huts and the seat of
the district government that borders Somalia and Ethiopia.
They also traveled to the isolated town of Takaba, in Mandera
West constituency, to dedicate a CJTF-HOA-funded school
project.

In Desperate Need of Water
--------------

3. (SBU) North Eastern Province has received no significant
rainfall for the past three years. The ensuing drought is
taking its toll on both the environment and people of Mandera
District. Water must be trucked into Mandera, but given the
harsh road conditions throughout the district, water
deliveries are few and far between. Shipments that do reach
the population are insufficient to adequately meet its needs.
Aid workers and government officials lament the frequent
breakdowns of delivery vehicles due to deplorable road
conditions. In Takaba, all water for the population of
10-20,000 is trucked in on abysmally poor roads from over 120
kilometers away, with each household receiving a meager
Weekly ration of only 20 liters. (NOTE: 20 liters is the
target Daily water ration for a single refugee in UNHCR
camps, including the Dadaab camps in North Eastern Province.
END NOTE.) The price for two liters of water in Mandera Town
has risen from USD .70 several months before to over USD
1.40. More isolated areas of the district report dramatic
price increases of up to 650 percent for water.


4. (SBU) The drought has devastated agriculture, inching the
population toward the brink of famine. Food is scarce in
Mandera. A tour of the local market in Mandera Town revealed
little on offer, save for a few measly potatoes and onions.
Locals report that practically all foodstuffs must be
imported from other parts of Kenya. Action Against Hunger
(AAH),a U.S. NGO that began a nutrition program in Mandera
in 2004, has witnessed malnutrition levels soar in recent
months. Their therapeutic and supplemental feeding centers
were originally targeted to treat small children; however,
recently they have begun to administer to increasing numbers
of severely malnourished adults. AAH reports that food
assistance lay abandoned by the roadside because people lack
the water necessary to cook the food provided. AAH,s
nutrition programs officer reports rising malnutrition is
causing greater vulnerability to disease: water-borne
diseases are on the rise as desperate residents resort to
drinking the only local water available, often roily and
fetid, and some parts of the district are experiencing
large-scale outbreaks of measles.

Loss of Livestock
--------------

5. (SBU) Pastures for livestock, the primary source of income
for people in Mandera, have all but disappeared. Locals
estimate 50-60 percent of all livestock have perished. The
few emaciated goats and sheep observed in Mandera Town were
seen foraging through piles of rubbish, with one animal
scavenging a prize plastic bag of khat. Aid workers report
that herdsmen are seeking pastures deep inside Ethiopia.
Traditionally, the ethnic Somalis of Mandera keep vast herds,
the only measure of their wealth. The drought has made it
impossible to sustain these large herds. Local government

officials are urging the population to salvage what they can
and devote scarce resources to a few animals, keeping them at
home and feeding them available vegetation. However, given
that herd numbers are their only source of wealth, few are
embracing this message. In a desperate attempt to save their
livestock, some owners are feeding food aid and nutrition
supplements to their animals. Unfortunately, the animals are
unable to digest the materials and subsequently die due to
blockage. The bloated, festering carcass of a donkey littered
the main street in Mandera Town.


6. (SBU) The loss of entire herds is resulting in growing
numbers of &pastoralist drop-outs,8 posing significant
challenges to the social structure and economy of the region.
Those who have lost their herds to the drought are at a loss
for alternatives to their way of life. These drop-outs could
potentially pose risks to regional security in the future.
Regardless of whether the rains arrive, Mandera officials
recognize that long-term solutions are needed to address this
significant challenge to the pastoralist communities and
their livelihood systems. In conversations with poloff,
however, it was clear that no such solutions were forthcoming.

Nothing Left to Fight Over
--------------

7. (SBU) The region is notorious for insecurity arising from
inter-clan conflict within the ethnic Somali community, which
often spills over into (or in from) neighboring Somalia
and Ethiopia. According to the Mandera District Officer 1
(DO1),Mr. Galgalgo, and Major Charles Odour, Commander, B
Company, 1st Kenyan Rifles, clan clashes primarily arise over
competition for scarce resources. However, they report such
conflicts are increasingly rare and they do not expect any
trouble in the immediate future. Why? Because there is
nothing left for clans to fight over. All clans are equally
devastated by the drought and currently lack the energy to
make war on their neighbors.

More Open Doors than Secure Borders
--------------

8. (SBU) As a border town, Mandera experiences a daily flow
of Somalis crossing into Kenya through the official border,
identifiable by the colorful array of plastic bags impaled on
the fencing. According to the Mandera border crossing
Immigration Official, Joseph Mbuthia, most of the Somali
movement into Mandera Town is foot traffic or donkey carts
headed to the markets. Despite the drought, numerous carts
filled with khat (mirrah) cluttered the main street in
Mandera Town, illustrating one aspect of the brisk
cross-border business. Mbuthia explained that to obtain
visas, Somalis must write to the Immigration Department in
Nairobi for permission prior to entering Kenya, a process few
choose to follow. Poloff witnessed a small stream of people
crossing in both directions, but did not witness any
inspection process. (NOTE: The DO1 had to call ahead to
ensure an official was present at the border immigration
office to receive poloff. END NOTE.) Mbuthia justified the
lackluster inspections regime to poloff saying, "these people
are all relatives so we cannot treat them disrespectfully."


9. (SBU) Nevertheless, security remains a concern. When
queried about the strength of government security forces in
the area, the DO1 hinted at a large, interagency force and
replied that &it was enough8 to see to the security needs
of the region. During a call on the Mandera Town Police
Commissioner, Joshua Omukata (at his fortress-like
headquarters),poloff was told not to be alarmed by the
sounds of gunfire at night. Omukata explained that the
gunshots would be coming from Somalia, which he dismissed as
"a whole other country."

Expanding Educational Opportunities
--------------

10. (SBU) In Takaba, CJTF-HOA Chief of Staff Colonel Trafton,
Captain Johnson, incoming CJTF-HOA Chief of Staff, Major
Collier, and poloff attended the dedication ceremony of the
completed CJTF-HOA Civil Affairs Takaba school project.
Following the government's 2003 commitment to the provision
of free primary education, the demand for secondary schooling
has increased across Kenya. This CJTF project expanded the
capacity of the only secondary school in Mandera West
constituency (estimated population of 70-80,000.) The project

involved the construction of 4 additional classrooms,
allowing the school to increase its capacity by 120 students,
and the construction of an additional dormitory to allow
students from throughout the constituency to enroll in
school. The new classrooms will enable the school to enroll a
second stream of students, eventually doubling the number of
students. Despite the new airy facility, the accommodation
still felt cramped, with several bunk-beds crammed into each
of the new rooms. Civil Affairs projects such as this fuel
the hopes of Mandera residents that the increasing number of
boys receiving a secondary education will help ensure greater
economic development for their communities. This may even
serve to provide alternatives to the questionably sustainable
pastoral way of life.


11. (SBU) Conspicuously absent in all of the gracious
expressions of gratitude and pleas for future assistance to
the school was any mention of the plight of Mandera West's
girls. Women themselves were scarce at the ceremony, though
three were represented on the school's board off governors.
Girls were singularly absent from among the throngs of young
boys gathered to observe the event. There is no secondary
school for girls in the entire constituency. Mandera West's
District Officer, C.S. Siele, appealed for USG assistance in
providing access to secondary education for girls. If left
to their own devices, he said, community leaders would
never contribute the necessary funds to establish a school
for the female population.


12. (SBU) COMMENT: While in the short term, the deprivations
of drought are having an ameliorating effect on tensions in
this historically volatile region, their effects will cause a
lasting disruption to the traditional way of life for people
of Mandera. There is rising resentment of those wealthy
enough to purchase livestock from their poorer neighbors, who
are forced to sell at far below market prices. This, coupled
with the loss of income for many and disputes over the
distribution of assistance, may pose significant challenges
to stability and security in the region in the future. END
COMMENT.
ROWE