Kuria clashes leave one dead, schools shut as regional commissioner Mworoa calls for calm

Clashes between two warring clans in Kuria, Migori County, have left one person dead and disrupted learning as well as social and economic activities in the area.

This comes at a time when Nyanza Regional Commissioner Florah Mworoa has cautioned the two clans against escalating animosity.

Mworoa urged the Bwirege and Nyabasi clans—who have been clashing over cattle rustling—to stop the theft of livestock, calling it a criminal act and not a community issue.

“A thief is a thief and should not be classified as a community thing,” she said during a security baraza at Biasumui Primary School in Nyabasi West Ward, Kuria East.

She emphasised the need for community dialogue, integration and coordinated security efforts, saying these would help restore lasting peace.

The clans, who have been engaged in violent confrontations for more than six months, accuse each other of stealing cattle and smuggling them across the Trans-Mara border in Narok County and into neighbouring Tanzania.

Biasumui Primary School head teacher Daniel Mahiri said the violence forced Grade 6 and 9 candidates to sit their national examinations at Nyamangogwi Primary School, four kilometres away.

According to Mahiri, the trauma of experiencing violence may have psychological effects on the candidates and could affect their examination performance.

He added that the prolonged clashes led to the indefinite closure of the school, interrupting examinations for Grades 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8.

“We had to send learners home and leave their examinations unfinished due to the escalating security tension in the area,” he said.

Mahiri appealed to security authorities to provide adequate security to allow teachers to return to the school and administer pending exams before the December 1 submission deadline.

Residents also urged security agencies to swiftly arrest those causing unrest as well as individuals involved in cattle theft, saying normalcy in the area had collapsed.

They said that besides losing livestock, they could no longer farm, run businesses or even attend to sick relatives for fear of attacks.

“It is high time the security agencies and local administration found solutions to this insecurity to ensure lasting peace,” said resident Kachoko Kibiriti.

Migori County Commissioner Kisilu Mutua assured residents that security teams would work closely with the community to identify and arrest individuals behind the attacks, cattle theft and illegal smuggling in an effort to restore calm.