Tana river,KENYA:Tana River County leaders are calling upon residents to maintain peace in order to avoid uprising of communal conflicts.
Speaking to the residents at Hola town, Chewani MCA Ms. Sauda Maiya Loda said Hola Irrigation Scheme is serving all communities in Kenya and they should not involve themselves in creating problems.
She urged both farming and pastoral communities not to ignite misunderstanding that would cause conflicts as happened in some years back.
Her statement comes a few days after over ten cows died at Minor scheme near Hola town allegedly over poison.
According to her the incident nearly ignited conflict between farmers and herders who lost their animals.
It was rumored that, the livestock had consumed poisoned grass .
However, the county administration and security leaders in the area told Baraka FM that only a test could confirm.
Area OCPD Mr. Sylvester Githungo told Baraka FM that the cows started behaving jumpy before they died.
“Eleven cows have died but around 3 to 4 cows are recovering. The cows started, running like they were frightened but later fell one after another,” he said.
Mr. Githungo added that veterinary officers had taken samples from the dead cows for testing to establish the cause.
Some days before the occurrence, Hola NIB farmers had claimed that herds of cattle was destroying their crops.
Through advisory committee chairman Mr. Mohamed Maro, the farmers had urged security personnel to intervene lamenting that some herder’s had threatened the farmers who were trying to protect their crops from being destroyed by animals.
The farmers had warned that they would take action if security leaders would not intervene with immediate effect.
Furthermore, Ms Sauda also known as “Mama lao”During the meeting congratulated the owners of the dead cows for their humanitarian and polite response towards the act.
Mama lao also warned that anybody who will be responsible for the act will face the full force of the law.
“I congratulate my brothers who lost their animals because of the good heart and polite response and God will reward you, because if would not be your politeness, conflict would have erupted already,” said the MCA.
