Sakaya: Are Ranches, Conservancies Fuelling Banditry, Cattle Rustling?

by MARTIN SAKAYA

• Former Rift Valley Regional Commissioner wondered how hundreds of cattle could disappear into thin air at the Laikipia Nature Conservancy never to be traced.

• Question is, are these conservancies and ranches displacing local populations from their productive lands in the name of ‘conservation

The fact that until now, nobody has come out to allude cattle rustling and banditry menace to the existence of ranches and conservancies with the exception of Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya.

Natembeya, a former Rift Valley Regional Commissioner, wondered how hundreds of cattle could disappear into thin air at the Laikipia Nature Conservancy never to be traced. That got my head spinning.

In my endeavours to get a firm understanding of cattle rustling and banditry, I came across a report titled Stealth Game “Community” Conservancies Devastate Land & Lives in Northern Kenya written in 2021 by a California-based organization, The Oakland Institute.

The report contains explosive revelations: “Over the years, conflicts over land and resources in Kenya have been exacerbated by the presence of large ranches and conservation areas.”

Question is, are these conservancies and ranches displacing local populations from their productive lands in the name of ‘conservation and community driven initiatives’ leaving communities fighting for survival on the remaining limited resources and then call it cattle rustling and banditry?

It is astonishing that 40 per cent of Laikipia county’s land is occupied by large ranches and conservancies, controlled by just 48 individuals as cited in the report. This is against a population of 518,560 in the county based on the 2019 census.