HomeCurrent AffairsAfrica’s Porous Borders and the Art of Survival -Editorial
Africa’s Porous Borders and the Art of Survival -Editorial
“This conflict is in our hearts, in our minds and in our souls. I will bring up my children to hate the Borana, we have reached a point of no return.” said a Gabra mother. She was a victim of the worst ever massacre in the history of the Borana and Gabra community.
Africa was forged by great migratory movements – in fact its very strength derived from them. The Fulani were a nomadic people that influenced regional politics and economics throughout western Africa for over a thousand years.
Similarly the Bantu, also originated from West Africa but are thought to have moved to the rain forests of Central Africa, as a result of the drying of the Sahara.. They later spread across to Southern and Eastern Africa. Along the African shores of the Indian Ocean they met and inter-married with communities from the subcontinent and Arabia. This encounter gave birth to the Swahili people and culture.
Africa’s survival and innovation in new areas of commerce, agriculture and knowledge grew out from this very movement of people.
When the colonialists came they too played their part in this shape shifting of communities and a continent. The examples are numerous.
Hausas from Nigeria were taken to serve the British in Sudan. Nubians were uprooted from along the Nile and forced into the Kings African Rifles to enable the British to tame the East African colonies. Large communities of Nubians live today in Kibera in Nairobi, Bombo in Uganda and Bomangombe in Tanzania.
When the colonial masters carved up the continent into spheres of influence at the Conference of Berlin in 1884, they had few qualms about dividing communities and resources. In what is probably one of the most glaring examples of colonial high-handedness, Queen Victoria “gifted,” Mt. Kilimanjaro to her cousin Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany after he complained that her colony, Kenya, had two mountains and his Tanganyika, had none.
Well that was then of course and this is now. Get over it some would say. Fine… there is no use crying over spilt milk, even though a lot was spilt.
However as we begin the 21st century, Africa needs to find a way to address conflicts essentially rooted in the unfair allocation of natural resources such as water and land and the division of people, who share common languages and aspirations, by borders and boundaries.
The Borana and the Gabra have lived in Ethiopia for centuries. They speak the same language and have been intermarrying for generations. In 1720, as result of a lack of grazing land for their cattle, these two pastoralist communities began settling in Northern Kenya.
Some man in a green khaki hat may have draw a line in the semi arid desert sand, many years ago, but the survival of these communities for centuries has been dependent on the movement between the two countries in search for water and pasture. Tending to livestock is their only means of livelihood.
As populations grew the competition for grazing land increased and some groups turned to rustling. The British attempted to ensure access to grazing land for the communities in the Northern Frontier Districts of Kenya as they were then known.
When Kenya gained independence, the new government far a way in Nairobi, found the concerns of these pastoralist communities too remote. Insecurity was combated by declaring a blanket state of emergency in the North and further to the East, where Somali separatists, the Shiftas, were fighting for a union with Somalia. The state of emergency lasted 22 years. As a result the region became the most marginalized in the country lagging behind in all aspects of development.
Meanwhile in Ethiopia, decades of civil war in the country led to a proliferation of arms and insurgents on the southern border with Kenya. .
Essentially the problem is a common one between the two countries. Communities on both sides are impoverished and some are armed. Cultural ties and tensions bind the people together.
Five months ago, armed Borana raiders from Ethiopia attacked a Turbi village in Marsabit District killing seventy six, including twenty children. This is unheard of - tribal fighters never killed women or children before. In a revenge attack, the Gabra killed nine Borana men and four children who were in a car driven by a priest.
It was one of the worst attacks in recent history and reasons for it remain a subject of debate. Some say that the Boranas in Ethiopia are abandoning their nomadic lifestyles leading to clashes over land with the Gabras, especially in the Huri Hills, one of the region's most fertile areas. Others blame the event on cultural practices and differences in government policy over conservation.
According to Borana culture, a man must kill a big game animal (Elephant, Lion, Buffalo, Rhino) for him to secure his manhood. In Ethiopia, the government has not been keen on conservation of wildlife, poaching and hunting has lead to the entire population of wild life in the country being wiped out. This has forced the Borana men in Ethiopia to come to Kenya in order to complete this crucial requirement in the culture of a Borana man.
To achieve this ritual, the men have to pass through Gabra land on their way to the game reserves in Northern Kenya. They ask for food and shelter since they need a few days to energize before embarking on the ritual. The Gabra have been very welcoming for generations. Just before the Turbi massacre, a group of warriors from Ethiopia were welcomed as usual and the Gabra family that was hosting them slaughtered a goat in honour of the guests.
In the dead of the night, the Gabra Family attacked the sleeping guests and chopped the heads of 10 Borana men. This pattern happened several times until the Borana lost 30 men; The Gabra felt the Borana who are dominant in Ethiopia were going to finish the wild animals in Kenya as they did in Ethiopia, thereby preventing the Gabra from adhering to their tradition. They will in turn have to travel further to complete the ritual of slaughtering a large wild animal.
So what does it all boil down to? Remote tribes, engaging in internecine conflicts based on age-old cultural practices? Many including their national governments would have you believe this is the case.
But in reality, it is about communities trying to eke out a living, feed themselves and educate their children. It is about even remoter governments content to let people contest over meagre resources, while restless borders become an excuse for inactivity or shirking responsibility.
The development of natural resources, conservation of wildlife, ensuring basic security and a means to a livelihood apply to people on both sides of any border. The colonialists may have drawn up artificial dividing lines between us but we ourselves must realize that more often than not, those on the other side are our brothers and sisters and our own survival is dependent on theirs.
