Animals during grazing.[Photo/Star]
A section of MCAs from Ijara Sub County have condemned last week’s incident where a herd of cattle belonging to pastoralists from the area had their legs chopped off by people suspected to be from Hindi in Lamu West constituency.
These act happened days after 4 people from Hindi were killed by suspected Al shabaab militants.
Speaking to press in Garissa town on Monday, the MCAs led by Ijara MCA Irshad Holowle , Adow Mohamed of Holugho and Abdullahi Mohamed of Sanagailu accused a section of politicians from Lamu who supported the call to have all pastoralists relocate from the area to pave way to KDF anti Al Shabaab operation in Boni forest. .
“It’s unfortunate to see responsible leaders spit out utterances that compromises the co-existence of communities. It is shameful,” Irshad said.
“Pastoralists value their livestock and this act of chopping cattle's legs will lead to a major conflict,” he added.
He challenged Lamu county commissioner to reconcile the communities instead of using threats to evict herders from Garissa, Tana River and Wajir counties grazing in Boni Forest.
“As leaders, we will not watch our people seeking pasture and water for their animals being profiled as Al shabaab sympathizers. This is not the first time the herders are grazing their animals in the forest,” Irshad said.
He called on the government to provide security to the pastoralists.