Militianisation of Resource Conflicts: the Case of Land-Based Conflict in the Mount Elgon Region of Western Kenya

This study points to questions of historical injustice related to colonial disinheritance of Sabaot communal lands without compensation

Militias are increasingly becoming akey factor in responding to grievances in Africa. In 2006, a section of the Sabaot community in Mount Elgon district, disaffected with the outcome of a land allocation process, took up arms and formed a militia, the Sabaot Land Defence Force (SLDF), ostensibly to fight for their land rights. Over the next one-and-a-half years, the militia killed an estimated 600 people, tortured many others and displaced about half of the district`s population, forcing the government, in an unprecedented fashion, to deploy the military in a land conflict. While tremendous success has been achieved in routing out the SLDF, a lasting peace may remain elusive unless the root causes of the conflict and the comlpex web of other factors that configure a landscape of conflit in the area are addressed. This study points to questions of historical injustice related to colonial disinheritance of Sabaot communal lands without compensation, and to intensified competition over and inequitable distribution of the available limited land. The other factors identified as the root causes of the conflict include a history of violence and militianisation in the area: availability of small arms and light weapons; clan rivalry and ethno-nationalist politics; insecurity/uncertainty of land tenure; geography and structure of the local economy; as well as feelings of marginalisation among local residents and shrinkage of the state from the area.

About the author

Robert Romborah Simiyu lectures in the Department Of Geography, Moi University, Kenya. He is currently undertaking his PhD studies at the Department of Human Geography, Planning and International Development Studies, University of Amsterdam, while based at the African Studies Centre in Leiden in The Netherlands.

Although this report was initially intended to be a joint effort between myself and Doctor Godwin Siundu of Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, because of circumstances over which he had little control, Doctor Siundu could not find sufficient time to contribute to the study. He nonetheless made time to reflect upon my progress and always made insightful comments, some of which I readily adopted in their raw form, and for which I am greatly indebted to him. However, I take full responsibility for the final product.