Holistic Development for Nomads
Chapter 4 The History and Geography of the Borana in Kenya
Figure 4.1 and Figure 4.2
4.1. The Waso Borana.
The people who form the subject of the study are usually know as the Waso Borana. This distinguishes them from other sections of the Borana pastoralists who have dominated the grazing lands of southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya for several centuries. The appellation, "Waso" derives from the seasonal river around which they have settled, the Ewaso Nyiro, sometimes spelled Waso Ngiro. The Borana have only moved into this area during the last 60 years since it was officially assigned to them by the British Colonial Administration in 1933. This is within the memory of some of the oldest members who can tell graphic accounts of the struggles that have brought them to their present highly prized grazing lands.
The historic conflict between Borana and Somali.
Some of the Borana report that their fathers and grandfathers used to know the Ewaso Nyiro river when they came down into Kenya hunting for animals. Most of them remember that they did not come directly by the shortest present route through Marsabit, but they came as children first of all to the wells at Wajir which they claim was then Borana territory. There were even some who insisted that it was their Borana forefathers who dug the wells at Wajir, maintaining that their people were renowned for their well digging abilities. This claim is difficult to justify, but it shows some of the historic conflict between Borana and Somali which continues to this day. Other western historians suggest that the wells at Wajir, as also the deep wells which are so important to the Borana in southern Ethiopia, were probably dug by an earlier more settled people. It is concluded that they were more concentrated than the Borana and therefore needed more wells situated closely together.
Who dug the wells?
Both the Somali and Borana legends speak of a powerful race called the Madanle or Medenli who built the many stone cairns which remain all across northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia. One contemporary authority on northern Kenya, Monty Brown, has produced a well illustrated book based on the legends of all the pastoral tribes who now occupy this region suggesting that the Madanle were a nation of giants. Some of their burial cairns, up to 3,500 years old, contain remains of skeletons which indicate a height of more than 2 metres, certainly conspicuously taller than the present surviving peoples. (Brown. 1989.)
Another earlier ethnographer, Watson, writing in 1927 reported that he had counted 400 wells within an area of 2 square miles at Wajir. From this he deduced that there must have been a much higher population in that area at one time "immensely numerous and wealthy". He reckoned that two wells would have been sufficient for the three hundred or so people who lived in that vicinity at the time of his visit. "Who then could these people have been who have required this immense water supply obtained by such laborious feats of engineering?" Watson quoted by Brown. 1989: 32
The origins of the Borana.
Whatever maybe the truth about the Madanle or the preceding civilizations there is little doubt that the Borana inherited their wells and their dominance of the area covered by their burial cairns. The Borana were the most southerly extension of the Oromo or Galla peoples who comprise a large proportion of the population of Ethiopia - variously assessed as one third to one half. Grudrun Dahl says that "Borana - recognise neither the term Galla nor Oromo as valid concepts for themselves. They see Oromo as a category opposed to themselves, associated with the Tana River Orma. Popular etymology at Waso derives Oromo from an expression which is used for a person who is in opposition, a traitor, or somebody who cannot be trusted in the best interests of the community. "Borana" is similarly associated with "people who refuse to move away." ' (Dahl 1979 in footnote 1:2 17 p.26.) This last description seems rather inappropriate to be used by the Waso Borana as their recent history has shown them to be quite ready to move when it is expedient.
Loose attachments to the Borana social systems.
Dahl makes the significant point that the Waso Borana who detached themselves from the main body in Ethiopia appear to have a much weaker attachment to the Gada system which is such an important feature of traditional Borana society. She suggests that this is probably the result of the fact that most of the original leaders of the Waso Borana were marginalised from the Gada system. They were born too late to be able to fully integrate into their own class during its "reigning period". (Dahl 1979: 20.)
She also suggests that the relatively easier availability of water for the Waso Borana has lessened the need for the large scale organization of water procurement which the Gada system allows in the traditional homelands.
Other Borana-speaking ethnic groups.
Amongst the Waso Borana are some small minorities of the Sakuye, Gabbra and Wata ethnic groups. These are representatives of some of the people not originating from the Ethiopia Borana homelands of Dirre and Liban. They have adopted the Borana language and lived in peace with them for many years. The Sakuye and the Gabbra were acceptable to the far more numerous and powerful Borana presumably because they kept mainly camels and did not compete for grazing with the Borana cattle, unless they were driven up the escarpment when under attack. In that situation the Borana would have appreciated the warning from their immediately adjacent neighbours to the south when raiding parties were coming from that direction, usually the Turkana or Somali.
The Wata 'cousins',- hunter-gatherers.
The Wata are not usually considered to be pastoralists as they were hunter-gatherers who had found their acceptable niche amongst the Borana by supplying them with essential products of wild animals. From them came the leather buckets made from the neck skin of the giraffes, which are still in use today, and heavier leather for shields which were in great demand before the arrival of guns and bullets. This is a good example of the symbiotic relationship which can exist amongst neighbouring peoples who are not competing for the same essential resources. The early dominance of the Borana is shown in that their language has been adopted by these three non-Borana ethnic entities, as well as by some of the northern Somali clans such as the Ajuran and Garre.
4.2. History of the neighbouring tribes, Sakuye, Rendille, Samburu.
The history of all the tribes bordering on the Borana is very complex and intertwined. The Sakuye are sure of their original relationship with Somalis but have lost their Somali linguistic heritage completely. Much farther west towards Lake Turkana (previously known as Rudolf) is another small camel herding group called the Rendille. They are still using a Somaloid language. Some of their clans claim they did not come from Somalia but from west of the lake, from where the Turkana drove them out. They have a strong historic and stable alliance with their neighbouring tribe to the south, the much larger Samburu. Again they could live in peace as the Samburu until recently have been almost entirely devoted to cattle. The Samburu are historically related to the Maasai, the great cattle herders of east Africa, who believe that God gave all the cattle in the world to the Maasai. They used to insist that anybody else who owns cattle must have stolen them so should not complain if the Maasai take them away.
Relations between Samburu and Borana.
The Samburu do not now have any direct contact with the Borana, but in the middle of the last century they had a very significant encounter. Quoting from the writings of an early colonial administrator whilst stationed in Baringo district in 1910, Brown records that the Samburu began a definite migration from that area which was to bring them into direct conflict with some southerly extension of the Borana empire. Brown writes:
"The salient feature in the establishment of a definite date is the evidence which points recurringly to a consolidated Samburu migration commencing during the time when the Kipeko age-set were in their warrior hood, an historical period which is estimated to have occurred during the years 1837-51. Indelibly printed in the traditional history of the Samburu are the Kipeko, who are remembered to this day as the stalwart and enterprising young men who led their immature tribe out of the Baringo basin and into new territories". Brown 1989,51
This quotation shows the value of the age-set system in providing dates of historical events in non-literate societies. Brown goes on to describe the advance of the Samburu warriors north eastwards towards the well-watered plains and valleys around the mountain masses of Nyiro and Kulal. He continues,
"...they did not find an empty promised land, but a country with established tenants herding their animals and conversing in an alien language, a hindrance to their progress that had to be driven out or eliminated. There is still uncertainty who these people were. Some informants contend they were Borana, while others describe them as a Borana-speaking race. Curiously the present-day Borana do not claim any knowledge of them." Brown 1989:60.
This may be a case of short memories of defeats compared with long ones of victories, but Brown describes at length the burial mounds of the Borana, or a related Galla group known as Wardai, which can be found on the lower slopes of the mountains around Nyiro and Kulal, several hundred kilometers south of what is now the Kenya - Ethiopia border,
To this day the relationship between Samburu and Borana is remembered by several of the Samburu clans who trace their roots back to the Borana. These presumably were the survivors who did not flee from the advance of the Kipeko warriors but submitted to their conquest, becoming integrated into Samburu society. One of the most powerful clans, called the Masula, actually use their strong Borana heritage to claim exclusive ancestral ownership of Mount Nyiro and the southern half of Mount Kulal. This is an unusual situation in a society where communal ownership of land is the custom, but as the Masula comprise almost three quarters of the northern Samburu, their proprietary claims on the grounds of ancestral rights are not usually disputed.
Samburu expansion northwards towards the Borana.
The prime cattle grazing area around these mountains is relatively limited before the land descends into semi arid thorn scrub, so this may have been the reason why the prosperous and powerful Samburu decided to expand their territory in the only direction where they could move to find similar good grazing. It may have been the assimilated former Borana who told them of the rich land to be found northwards, if they were willing to cross the barren rocky wastelands to the east of Lake Rudolf and the Chalbi desert. This led them to the area between the river Omo and Lake Stephanie which they still refer to as "Uoto"- 'the far away place.' At that time only the tiny Hamar Koke tribe were living in that vast area of tall grass surrounding the Hammar range of mountains. The Samburu had no difficulty in driving the Hammar Koke off the grazing lands and then began the expansion across to the east of Lake Stephanie where they found even better grazing near to the Tertale mountains. They still remember this as `Dharrar', a paradise for cattle with rich waving grasslands on treeless lower slopes, rising to a summit of 5,000 ft, covered with beautiful juniper forest. This brought the Samburu very close to the traditional Borana grazing lands at Dirre, but there is no record of any conflict between them as other disasters were to hit both groups before their herds expanded to the point that competition for grazing made that inevitable.
Outbreak of disease in the 1880's
In the 1880s, devastating outbreaks of disease such as rinderpest swept across east Africa, destroying at least 90% of all the cattle. Those tribes who were the most wide ranging and mobile would no doubt suffer greater losses than smaller ones who tried to keep themselves hidden away from other more powerful competitors for grazing. In these scourges the Borana and Samburu both suffered terribly, firstly through losing the cattle on whom they had become almost totally dependent, then through the ravages of tribal raiding parties trying to rebuild their herds in the quickest way that pastoralists have always resorted to when survival demands.
The mighty Samburu, whose herds had so recently spread right across an immense part of what is now northern Kenya and into southwestern Ethiopia, were forced to retire to their earlier mountain origins at Nyiro and Kulal. For a short time they joined forces with the Rendille and a small tribe called the Dasenech, who cultivate along the shores of the Omo river, before it runs into Lake Rudolf. They were trying vainly to resist the voracious attacks of the Turkana raiding parties sweeping around the south of the lake and up the eastern shore to where the Samburu had found such peace and plenty. The Turkana were not interested in the good land; it was the surviving remnants of the Samburu herds that they wanted. They took them without mercy from the Samburu, but this probably saved the Borana, who would have been next in line if the Samburu had not moved into their Uoto region just a few years before.
Eventually the survivors of the rinderpest-ruined Samburu were forced to retreat southwards into the forests on their mountains to live like the lowly Wandorobo who survive by eating berries, roots, honey and such wild animals as they can catch. The Wandorobo are another of the sub-groups of hunter-gatherers who are said to be an offshoot of the Borana people who once lived in the area before the Samburu took it over. They can still be found to this day, surviving mostly by selling honey from the forest.
4.3. The arrival of the big powers and explorer emissaries.
Towards the end of the last century, the first white explorers and hunters were penetrating the region around Lake Turkana. They recorded the desperate plight of the Samburu, Rendille and Borana, suffering not just the ravages of cattle disease, but also a devastating out break of smallpox amongst the human population.
Count Teleki goes elephant hunting.
The first to arrive on the scene was an Austrian exploration party led by Count Teleki which reached the southern slopes of Mt. Nyiro in February 1888. They met up with a few timid members of the Samburu from whom they chose a guide who offered to lead them to the northern Samburu territory at Uoto around Lake Stephanie. The guide was as disappointed to find no sign of survivors of his people as the explorers were to find that Lake Stephanie was nothing like Lake Rudolf. His expedition partner, Van Hohnel later described it as `evidently rapidly receding', very brackish and teeming with dead and dying fish, crocodiles and birds. They probably saw the last years of a dying lake, as since that time it is only occasionally covered with a thin layer of water over extensive sand flats.
When Teleki and Hohnel discovered the lake they were to name Stephanie in honour of the Austrian Archduchess, they found no signs of people. They did find plenty of wild game from which the Count took three elephants - just for their tusks. One hundred years later there were no elephants left in all that area of Uoto and Borana land but people, were there with their herds. They call themselves Tertale, speaking mostly Borana. These are presumably the remnants of the most northerly extension of the Samburu and the most westerly extension of the Borana.
The Ethiopian emperor sends his army elephant hunting.
The disappearance of elephant cannot be blamed entirely on the big white hunters who were to follow Count Teleki into what is now northern Kenya with the sole purpose of "bagging game" and hauling out enough ivory to pay for their expeditions. There were other even more rapacious elephant hunters coming down from the north at the command of the Emperor of Ethiopia to collect as much ivory as possible to pay for his military expansion plans. Those raiders came as far south as the Samburu heartland of Mt. Nyiro with sizable forces of the Ethiopian army to kill elephant with their recently acquired guns and carry the tusks back to their Emperor. The raiders were usually referred to as Sidam, presumably because of their origin from southern Ethiopia where the Sidamo are one of the larger tribes living just to the north of the Borana. It may have been the reports of the wealth of the region that gave Menelik the desire to expand his empire to include not only the traditional Borana homeland of Dirre and Liban. Having ruthlessly acquired that, he continued to push further south as far as Mount Marsabit, where some of the Borana had found good grazing as well as elephants with the largest tusks ever recorded, on that isolated and idyllic volcanic mountain which has its own weather pattern and ecosystem.
International politics reaches Borana-land.
In the last decade of the nineteenth century, Menelik was aware of the struggle going on between the great European powers to divide up Africa between them. In particular he was concerned with the treaty between the British and Italian governments to establish what they called a Protocol line in 1891. This would approximate the southern limit of what the Italians saw as the Abyssinian kingdom which they were intending to take over as their sphere of influence.
Menelik was an ambitious and powerful king who understandably did not take kindly to this decision on the limitations of his kingdom. He reacted predictably by proposing another line in 1899 which he decided should run from the southern end of lake Rudolf straight across to the Somali border on the river Juba. This would have passed through Mount Marsabit, just above the latitude of 2 degrees North. The Anglo-Italian protocol line of 1891 was drawn on the 6 degree N parallel from the established Sudan border, between lakes Abaya and Chamo on what is known as God's bridge, until it met the northern tributary of the Juba river called the Ganale.
The Ethiopian army moves in.
The Borana were not consulted as to what they thought about the boundary line even though it would be of greatest importance to them. Would they be on the Abyssinian side or under British Colonial administration? The Anglo-Italian line would probably have been more advantageous for the Borana as it would have kept all their people together in one country south of the border and separate from the oppressive regime that was to come as the Amhara rulers came southwards. They seized not only the choice land for cultivation for themselves, but also slaves and cattle from the Borana. They set up their administrative towns at Yavello, Mega, Moyale and even on top of the western mountains at Hamar Koke.
The Italian invasion and retreat.
The Italians were later to send their war machine down into all these southern extensions of Ethiopia capturing all these Amhara towns. The British Army, with help from their South African allies, advanced up through Kenya to drive them back and supposedly liberate all of Ethiopia. The tribesmen of the south west corner of this empire still recall the terrible things done and suffered by the Italian soldiers. There was one large column sent down towards the tiny outpost of the Amhara kingdom at Hamar Koke. They never got that far as they were struck with the twin disasters of thirst and disease for their horses and their men. The local tribes people say that hundreds died from yellow fever before the survivors turned back and fled from the terrible heat and dryness before they could reach the Omo river. This debacle is recorded on the maps prepared by the Italians as the `Plain of Death', east of the river Omo.
Who decided the fate of the Borana?
The political fate of the Borana since the turn of the century was not decided by armies on the ground or visionary empire builders in Africa but in reality by the inactivity of politicians in Europe. On July 1st 1890 a treaty between England and Germany defined the northern boundary of British influence as
`commencing on the coast at the north bank of the mouth of the river Juba, thence it ascends that bank of the river and is co-terminous with the territory reserved to the influence of Italy in Galla land and Abyssinia as far as the confines of Egypt.' Quoted in Brown 1989: .284.
The following year, the Anglo-Italian protocol was signed on 24 March 1891, which more specifically defined the northern boundary as going as far north as the 6 degree parallel. The Emperor Menelik duly responded to this a few weeks later, on 10th April 1891, by a letter to the three major European powers who were seeking to carve up international spheres of influence, if not physical boundaries. He included the French in his circular letter as he was aware of their desire to establish a belt of contiguous possessions from the Congo to their toehold on the Eastern coast of French Somaliland. He also included Russia as he had reason to suspect intrigue from some unscrupulous and ambitious individuals from that direction.
Menelik issued his challenging letter to the European powers not long after his coronation, when he was seeking to establish his authority at home and abroad, after a period of weak leadership under his predecessor, King John. He boldly declared his boundary to include the Borana as follows, `towards the east are included within the frontier the country of the Borana, Gallas and the Arussi country up to the limit of the Somali; including also the province of Ogaden.' quoted in Appendix 2 of Brown 1981 p.403
The Christian/Muslim rivalry.
The visionary and expansionist emperor continued his letter to the European powers by appealing to what he saw as their common Christian heritage. He obviously felt this should not only discourage them from carving up his kingdom, but could move them to come to his aid to drive out the Muslim forces which had taken over the coastal area.
`Ethiopia has been fourteen centuries a Christian land in a sea of Pagans. If powers at a distance come forward to partition Africa between them, I do not intend to be an indifferent spectator. Formerly, the boundary of Ethiopia was the sea. Having lacked sufficient strength, and having received no help from Christian powers, our frontier on the sea fell into the power of Mussulman.
At present we do not intend to regain our sea frontier by force, but we trust that the Christian powers, guided by our Saviour will restore to us our sea-coast line,' ibid. from Emperor Menelik's letter to heads of State. April 10th 1891 Brown 1989. Appendix 2.
Silence in London determines the fate of the Borana.
The response of the British government in London to this challenge appears to have been silence for at least the next 15 years. During this time Menelik pushed ahead with his southern advance of empire in a de facto take over of what had been no-mans land in which the Borana had lived for several relatively peaceful centuries. It is interesting to speculate whether Menelik would ever have bothered to claim that southern territory if the European powers had not issued their imperious protocols. The fact is that they were quite meaningless as none of them had any forces on the ground to establish their claims. Maybe that is the reason why the British Foreign Office did nothing to implement the Anglo-Italian protocol. They had no government official in East Africa until they reluctantly opened the administration of the British East Africa protectorate in July 1895. Brown describes the significance of Menelik's letter of April 1891 in the following manner:
"It could almost be said that the battle for Gallaland commenced on that date. Menelik took it all very seriously, and swiftly initiated the first moves in a southerly direction. Britain and Italy on the other hand complacently popped their copies of his letter into the depths of the Foreign Office files and took no further action. Why should they, the diplomats reasoned, for Abyssinia would soon be under Italy's wing anyway; the British government, confident of this conclusion and friendly with Italy, could see no reason to pursue a matter which had already been resolved by treaty. Ibid. p.285
It was only the surprise defeat of the mighty Italian army in 1896, at the battle of Adowa, that shook the complacency of the European powers and brought the new Emperor Menelik to their serious attention.
The Ethiopians find the attractions of Borana-land.
Whilst they had been doing apparently nothing except watch the Italian army prepare to invade Ethiopia, Menelik had been buying weapons by all means and the quickest way to do that was by selling ivory which all the world was eager to buy at that time. This accorded well with his southern campaigns where the greatest number of elephants were to be found. His advancing armies needed to be fed, especially with meat, of which the Borana cattle could provide plenty. Ethiopians are still renowned for their partiality to raw meat, so a region wealthy in cattle was very attractive to their soldiers. There was another added benefit of this de facto occupation of the southern no man's land. The King was able to offer more positions to some of his ambitious and rapacious officers who did not mind being posted to far away assignments. There they could indulge their love of power, meat and attractive young ladies on the Borana who were renowned for abundance of the latter two commodities and their lack of the first one.
4.4. The British government, the Borana and the borders.
The only sign of western power in the disputed border area during those years of official inactivity at the turn of the century were a few intrepid explorers and big game hunters. One of the former, called Dr. Donaldson Smith, came across some of Menelik's new breed of military officials in 1895 in between Lakes Stephanie and Rudolf. He was very disturbed by what he experienced and wrote to the East African protectorate which had been formed during the time he was in the supposed northern no-man's land.
"It behooves England to act at once. If she does not check Abyssinian advance it will only be necessity deferred, and the when finally she is obliged to possess herself of the country to the east of Lake Rudolf, she will have lost all of ...that...country of great commercial value, extending a hundred miles north of lake Rudolf." ibid. p. 283
This warning is all the more remarkable because it came from a young American. That may be the reason why it went unheeded. Donaldson Smith was particularly distressed by what he saw and heard of the oppressive measures used by Menelik's army in ruthlessly taking cattle, taxes and slaves from the Borana. Knowing the keen anti slavery concern of the British at the end of the last century, which was one of the main excuses for them entering Kenya, he felt that this was reason enough for the British to drive back the Ethiopians.
The effect of a toothless paper agreement.
The truth of the matter was that the British government had neither the forces nor the inclination to occupy the area up to the 6 degree N latitude which they had claimed in the 1891 Anglo-Italian agreement. So the Borana passed by default into Ethiopian control with not the slightest opportunity to express their preference in this matter. It is hardly surprising that to this day the Borana in general are kindly disposed towards the British and have no complaints about "White colonial governments". The question remains as to whether it was that empty claim of Anglo-Italian protocol which precipitated Menelik's understandable reaction and led inexorably to their submersion into Ethiopia.
It was not until 1899 that the British Foreign Office began to take seriously the question of the northern border of their protectorate and the resurgent empire of Ethiopia. By that time Menelik's `effective occupation' was well advanced and ruthlessly established.
"Our man" in Addis Ababa intervenes.
The British government agent in the newly established Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa at that time was an astute military man, Captain Harrington. He it was who began the complex and lengthy debate with Emperor Menelik about where the southern boundary should be drawn, recognising that the Anglo Italian line on the 6 degree parallel was untenable. It was Harrington who called the Emperor's bluff in refusing to accept Menelik's proposed line running from the southern end of Lake Rudolf through Mt. Marsabit, just above two degrees North. The fact was that the British and Italians had no regard for the opinion of the Borana, or any of the other indigenous minor peoples on the ground they were disputing, as they did not know what existed on it when they made their agreement in 1891. Presumably they chose 6 degrees North as a convenient parallel on the map. When Menelik staked his claim to a line running due east from the southern end of Lake Rudolf he did show some awareness of what existed on the ground, including a proprietary claim to all the Galla peoples, which of course included the Borana.
The border survey begins, paid for by a civilian.
Captain Harrington sent repeated and increasingly urgent messages to the British Foreign Office seeking definite decisions on the southern boundary as he knew that the Ethiopians were pressing their claim and oppressing the people more and more within the disputed territory. It was not until 1902 that some action was decided on. This amounted to nothing more than agreement that diplomatic backing should be given to a formal survey of the region of the border line suggested by Menelik. The actual cost and conduct of the survey was left to the resources of a young Scottish sportsman, Archibald Butter. As Brown describes this situation:-
"It is hard to believe that the government of the greatest imperial power of the day could stoop to such niggardliness as to accept private financing for an official expedition whose sole purpose was to define one of its possessions' borders." Quote ibid: 1989: 288
It was Butter who led the survey team in 1903 which was to determine the final position of the frontier and thereby decided that the traditional Borana homelands would be in Ethiopia. He was accompanied by some Abyssinian officials who showed their true purpose in coming when they put pressure on the local Borana people to confuse and mislead the survey party as much as possible. Butter had planned on using them as guides during his survey as they would know the area. Fortunately two of his party could speak Amharic and learned that the Borana had orders not to speak to any of the white foreigners or to come near to their camp.
"If they found themselves in a situation where they could not avoid speaking to them they should give them misleading information, the exact opposite to the fact." ibid 1989: 296
The Borana are discovered and mapped.
In spite of many frustrations whilst overcoming the natural intrigue of the Abyssinian officials, which Butter described as being `palpably childish', the survey party covered the whole 3,000 square miles of the disputed area. Nearly all was found to be populated by the Borana from Liban in the north east to Tertele in the south west. They found plenty of evidence of very recent occupation by the Ethiopian government - a last minute extension of their authority just ahead of the survey team's arrival. The survey learned from the Borana of the existence of a very steep and high escarpment which they regarded as the southern limits of their Dirre homelands. Below the escarpment they only went if they needed extra grazing in times of drought above it. This was considerably to the south of the compromise line they had been hoping to establish. Butter and his party decided that this natural demarcation should be recommended as it would not divide the traditional Borana territory as well as provide a natural topographical feature. They also concluded that the Ethiopian government had already established themselves so firmly into their Amhara towns in Borana land during the years that the Foreign Office had procrastinated in taking seriously the border question that there was little chance of evicting them. They accepted that the colonial government in London would be hard pressed to claim the land when it had already been colonised by an African one in Addis Ababa.
The boundary is chosen - running through the heart of Borana-land.
If the British had tried to establish any border further north Butter realised that it would have been much more difficult to define and defend than the escarpment at the southern end of Borana land. He therefore recommended accepting the natural boundary of the escarpment, describing it as:
"exceeding his most sanguine expectation.. It is a sheer escarpment about 1000 ft and the most perfect natural frontier possible. It is absolutely the luck of the world to find this escarpment." Ibid. p. 299
The rights of the tribes along the border are considered.
The final resolution of the border dispute was not decided until 1909 when another military contingent led by Major General Charles Gwynn was sent to map the boundary with a view to the requirements of effective border patrols. This meant that water supply became a major factor which required minor changes in what was known as the `red line' proposed by the Butter expedition. Gwynn's survey was also mandated to ensure as far as possible the rights of the tribes along the frontier. During the five years since Butter's "red line" survey proposal there had been several significant movements at the eastern end due to encroachment from Somali and Garre pastoralists and pressure from Abyssinian expansionists. These changes led to several adjustments in Gwynn's proposed boundary which he called the `blue line'. He described the adjustments as equitable; exchanging equal areas of territory on both sides, but they were sufficient for Menelik to refuse to accept them. He was supposed to have sent Ethiopian representatives to accompany the Gwynn's survey expedition. None ever arrived, even though Gwynn waited two months before setting off, He sent messages repeatedly to request local officials as well as some from central government to come to inspect his blue line adjustments, but finally he realised that the Ethiopian government was not going to recognise the blue line boundary.
Even though the Ethiopian government never officially accepted Gwynn's proposed blue line boundary, the British decided that it was the best that could be found for patrolling purposes and for the local tribes people. Although It might have been better for the Borana if the 6 degree North original boundary had been used, keeping all the Borana- speaking peoples together south of the boundary, the present frontier along the edge of the escarpment is probably the second best alternative as it keeps the traditional homeland of Dirre and Liban intact.
4.5. The Borana move again.
Towards the end of the last century, when the Borana in Ethiopia began to experience the combined onslaught of rinderpest, small pox, Tigre raiding parties and the first oppression from Abyssinian officials the movement towards Wajir became more pronounced. There were plenty of wells there to supply them and the other members of the Worr Liban, such as the Ajuran and the Garre.
At about the same time, around the turn of the century, another Somali group reached Wajir district from the East. These were the Degodia or Hawiya. Schlee describes their arrival thus:-
The first phase of Degodia expansion was not violent. Before the Degodia had gained sufficient strength to dispose of niceties, many of them sought affiliation as sheegat (adopted tribesmen) among the Ajuran. They thus became clients of people who in turn were clients of the Boran. At first the Degodia only watered their stock at Boran wells by night to cause as little friction as possible. However as their stock increased, they gradually ceased to behave as guests and took over much of the country
The links between the Ajuran and the Degodia became a strain to the relationship between the Ajuran and the Boran, especially as the number of sheegat increased. The Boran eventually had to wait for admission to their own wells. (Schlee 1992 p 141)
Conflicts at the Wajir wells. Enmities established.
One of the first acts of the newly installed British administration in the Northern Frontier District in 1908 was to try to assist the Borana. The solution proposed was to move all the Borana speaking groups, Ajuran, Sakuye and Borana from Wajir to a more northerly well complex at Buna on the way to Debel. These proved to be inadequate and not so suitable as the shallow wells at Wajir, so the Worr Liban peoples decided to return there. When they tried to return to Wajir for the next dry season they found their place had been taken not only by many more Degodia but also the Ogaden, a more politically dominant group. Even the Ajuran were chased away by the Degodia in spite of the earlier sheegat relationship of subservience. This aggressive attitude of the Degodia is still evident in their continuing advance westwards from Wajir into the Waso area. Many of the Boran encountered during field research were willing to accept the presence of Ajuran as their "Somali brothers" but the Degodia were hated and feared for their constant murderous raids. "They want not only our animals but our land" was the frequently heard expression of distrust.
More recent conflicts over wells.
An interesting prallel is seen at El Gof in southern Ethiopia where the Borana have recently been driven away from the famous wells there north of Moyale. These wells dug hundreds of years ago were made to allow the cattle to walk down long inclined slopes for five to ten metres to the drinking troughs below ground level. This saves the herdsman from having to lift the water that distance. The incline ramps are also designed to keep dirty water from entering the well water kept clean for human consumption. The author was able to visit this complex of keep wells and found no Borana in the vicinity. They have been taken over since 1994 by a group of Somalis called Garre who claimed that the Borana were too frightened to fight for them and went to other places. The fact that this Garre clan still speak the Borana language is an indication that once they were subservient to the Borana. Another interesting development that has taken place at El Gof is the construction of several new wells by the Ethiopian government using modern earth moving machinery to dig wider and straighter inclined access ramps to the drinking troughs of an old traditional well. This was little used as the Government has also installed a large diesel powered pump nearby to take water by pipeline to Moyale town, about 35 kilometres away. Drinking troughs have been built at the surface which are supplied by this pump. These are sufficient for the fewer number of animals now being watered at El Gof. If the Borana were allowed to take their cattle there the traditional well would no doubt be needed, especially during the dry season.
The move to Isiolo District.
The land that the Waso Borana now occupy in Merti and Garba Tula division of Isiolo district was formally ceded to them by the British Administration in 1933 when it was obvious that they could not maintain their position in Wajir district.
This new area had formerly been considered Samburu territory but the shrinking fortunes of that pastoralist group had greatly reduced the amount of grazing land they needed. The Samburu had retreated from the Waso area more than 30 years before the Borana arrived in the final stage of their journey from Ethiopia. They found a rich land of great potential not only for grazing in the rainy season when small streams and natural ponds provided water for their growing herds but a seasonal river which could support many animals during the dry season when it flowed most often.
This same river has provided other means of livelihood in recent years which will feature in the section of this study concentrating on the growing practice of cultivation by the Waso Borana.
4.6. The shifta wars.
There was to be one other major event in the more recent history of the Waso Borana which is still spoken of by anybody who survived it as the most terrible tragedy to befall the Borana. It was a period of several years 1963 - 1969 usually referred to as the 'shifta wars'. These began at the time of independence when British colonial rule was coming to a hasty and ill-planned conclusion.
The last days of the colonial government
The colonial government was alleged to have promised the people of northern Kenya, then known as the NFD, that they would be allowed to choose which country they wanted to belong to - Somalia or Kenya. As most of the NFD is arid or semi-arid land and the people nomadic pastoralists, many of them naturally felt that they had little in common with the southern Bantu farmers. The Borana of Isiolo District in particular appear to have readily assented to the persuasion of the Somalis to join forces and resist the imposition of the Bantu administration.
The fateful meeting.
During the interviews there were several who told of the meeting held near to Sericho where all the Borana leading men met with the Somali representatives to plan their resistance movement. There were some interesting alternative versions which spoke of the attitude of the Borana women who strongly disagreed and pled with their men folk not to join forces with the Somalis against the much better armed Kenyan forces. In spite of their protests more than 800 Borana men went to Somalia to collect guns. Some of the Borana claim that the British betrayed their trust when they responded to the request of the new Kenyan government to help them defeat the attempt of the Somalis to tear off about one quarter of the land area of the newly independent Kenya.
The concentration camps.
The suffering of the Borana at that time was appalling. All those who did not flee to Somali were rounded up into three strongly fenced concentration camps - several thousand people in each. It is reported that 842 people died in one month in the Merti camp. There were only two or three gates in the barbed wire through which the Borana herdsmen could pass to graze their animals - strictly limited to no more than three kilometers from the camp. This was hopelessly inadequate to provide grazing for even a tiny fraction of their herds. The Borana claim that more than 90 per cent of their animals were lost at that time. Some of the old men tell of the days before the camps when they used to have camels. All camels were regarded as potential means of transport for anti-government rebels, so any that were not taken to Somalia were slaughtered by the army. Truck loads of cattle, sheep and goats are alleged to have been hauled off to sell in markets in the south of the country. One man told of his feelings as he sat inside his concentration camp at Garba Tula and watched the soldiers bring in some of his own cows to be slaughtered and eaten. He and his people got none of the meat.
Recent experience with the Kenya Army.
At the close of 1992, rumours began to circulate that United Nations military forces were preparing to patrol the Kenya/Somali border to restrict the flood of gunmen fleeing over the frontier with their weapons to escape the advance of the peace keeping forces within Somalia. This seems to have finally prompted the Kenyan authorities to do something about the state of violent lawlessness which was raging in the whole north east corner of their country. At that time there was probably an unusually high level of distrust on the part of the Borana, as they frequently expressed their lack of confidence that the Kenya Government would do anything to help them. A new Chief of Staff for the armed forces had recently been appointed who was from the same ethnic group as those who were attacking them, "What else can you expect when you have a Somali in charge of the Kenya Army?" was their constant refrain.
Whether this complaint was justified or not is beyond the remit of this study, but it is illustrative of the lack of confidence of pastoralists in the top levels of government who have the power to help them. It is typical of many pastoralists who feel alienated from, or at best ignored by those who are meant to protect and provide for them. The fact that within a matter of days of the arrival of a relatively small detachment of the Kenya Army the situation was so quickly transformed for the Waso Borana lends credence to their arguments that it is the responsibility of the army to deal with the Somali raiders. No ordinary herdsmen is allowed to carry a weapon of any sort to defend himself or his livestock, which makes them even more dependent on the army.
The Borana try to arm themselves.
Before the Kenya Army came onto the scene, a few Borana had been acquiring weapons to try to defend themselves after the big raids of 1992, when several hundred Somalis at a time were launching full scale attacks on the towns in eastern Isiolo. Early in 1993 the government administration decreed that all the Borana must hand in their weapons. This did nothing to improve confidence or relations with the administration. The Borana pastoralists knew that the army would not stay long then they would have to be prepared to defend themselves again.
The decline and disintegration of the Waso Borana.
The Borana suffered much greater economic loss in those few brief years in the concentration camps in Kenya than those who remained behind in Ethiopia, under the more protracted failure of successive, misguided government policies. Apart from the pitiful and pointless loss of human and animal life in the concentration camps, the Waso Borana appear to have lost much more of their social values and traditions than their northern brothers. This is probably the major reason why they so quickly yielded to Islam, whilst other closely related peoples, like the Gabbra and Samburu, have resisted it. The Borana have admittedly had a lot more contact with the Somali, the chief propagators of the Muslim religion in northern Kenya, but the state of their relationship has been so often mutually hostile, and at best distrustful, that some other reason must be sought to see the abandonment of centuries of Borana tradition, than the winsomeness of the Somalis. This study will identify a few of the on-going causes of their decline and social disintegration, some of which appear to be so serious that they threaten the future of the Waso Borana as a viable society.
4.7. Demographics of Isiolo District.
The Waso Borana regard the Merti and Garba Tula Divisions of Eastern Isiolo as their homeland although there are considerable numbers living in the main towns of central Kenya who would still consider themselves belonging to the Waso Borana.
The escape to Isiolo - 'ebbing and flowing'.
At the time of this research it was estimated that possibly half the population of the district capital of Isiolo were Borana - most of these from the Waso. Precise numbers would be impossible to determine as the Borana share the characteristic of most nomadic people - a willingness to move for a variety of reasons; a good rainfall in the grazing lands; a wedding, or a funeral anywhere; or a better supply of Mirraa,- the main preoccupation of most urbanised Borana.
Deliberate attempts by some Somalis to drive out the Borana .
The major cause of population movements among the Borana in recent years has clearly been due to periodic shifta attacks not only on their herds but on the main government towns such as Garba Tula and Kinna. These seem to be a deliberate attempt to so frighten the inhabitants that they will move out completely and abandon these towns.
Unreliability of official statistics .
The movements in the population as a result of insecurity during the last 5 years have been so great that they render the official government demographic projections highly inaccurate and improbable. These are based upon the 1979 census which gave the following figures and projected estimates for Isiolo district.
Table 4.1
Overcrowding and ethnic confusion in Isiolo.
Unofficial reports by local chiefs suggested that a sizable proportion of the population of the two districts of Eastern Isiolo, Garba Tula and Merti has moved to Isiolo Town to take advantage of better security and relief assistance available there. If the shifta problem is resolved, or at least controlled more effectively, the drift may well be reversed as there is no means of sustaining a livelihood in and around Isiolo. The town is already heavily over-populated by other ethnic groups, especially Turkana, Samburu, Wameru (self styled 'Merians') and Somalis. This latter group has increased dramatically in the last year due to those fleeing from the civil war in their own country and unrest in North Eastern Province.
The decline of Garba Tula, the logical administrative centre.
There have been other major population shifts during the last five years, particularly away from Garba Tula and towards Kinna. Both communities have suffered repeated raids by Somali shiftas to the point that Garba Tula is now a pale shadow of the former centre of administration before and after Independence. The drift away of all the herd-owners has left the town with only the poorest people, able and willing to survive on aid from the Catholic Missions.
4.8. The bizarre geography of Isiolo District and road communications.
Another significant factor of life in Eastern Isiolo which needs to be considered but seldom arose in the discussions is the transportation system.
Figure 4.3
On the relevant map no. 3, the road system is shown as solid (red) lines where they are considered to be passable in all weather, at least most years, and broken lines where they are seasonally impassable most years. It will also be seen from the political map that the district capital of Isiolo is situated so far to the southwest that it appears as almost a protrusion into Meru district. It is connected to the Waso area by a long narrow neck like a bulge on the extreme end of the handle of a frying pan. This unnatural remote location of the administrative headquarters from the geographical centre of the district has had a considerable negative effect on the development of the Waso area.
There is one major road officially number C81, running from Isiolo to Mado Gashe, Wajir and onwards to Mandera and Somalia. For some unexplained reason the boundary of Meru district is drawn to the north of the road for the first 55 kilometres through a lowland area with very few settled people. This stretch of road therefore assumes a low priority for the Meru district authorities who are responsible to maintain it. Once this road enters Isiolo district it arrives first at a small settled community called Kula Mawe,- meaning "eat rocks". The name of the place is an indication of the nature of the terrain and its productivity. The sharp stones which cover this whole area are a formidable problem for all vehicle tyres making trucking very expensive.
Once the stony plains around Kula Mawe are past, at the northern extremities of the Nyambene hills, the road starts to descend from the rocky strata to the more sandy lowlands again. Here flash floods are liable to wash through the road, frequently requiring diversions through the bush until such time as proper repairs can be made. In other places the floods deposit large quantities of sand into the depressed channel which forms the road bed, making very heavy going for loaded trucks and often causing them to "bog down" to a complete stop. This is quite normal in roads built across sandy plains where little or no attempt at crowning or building up with hard core is made.
The strategic location of Garba Tula.
The situation is made worse in the Waso area by the unfortunate location of the District headquarters so that every vehicle and government official has to cross more than 100 kilometres on the road from Isiolo before coming to the next town of any importance, the southern division head quarters at Garba Tula. This is situated just south of the main road from Isiolo to Mado Goshe, at a very strategic centre of other communications. The southern road was preferred as less liable to shifta attack. Southwards a wide and relatively well made road runs to Kinna, the major settlement on the boundary of Meru district and the Meru National Park. This distance of about 40 kilometres can easily be covered in less than one hour. This road would provide a very sensible route to Nairobi and the south if it was not for the 16 kilometres stretch around the game park before it joins the permanent road made to bring tourists into the park. Unfortunately these 16 kilometres are again in Meru district so the authorities there have little interest in improving them, especially as much of that distance is over black cotton soil which requires expensive hauling in of stone.
To the east from Garba Tula runs another well built road to Benane and onwards to Garissa. This road is hardly ever used by lawful vehicles in recent times due to much shifta activity. The Borana claim that Benane used to be one of their main watering places but the Somalis have not only taken it over completely but use it as the main base for all the shiftas that regularly attack Garba Tula.
Garba Tula to Merti - the shortest road to Waso Borana
The most important road out of the town of Garba Tula heads northwards, crossing the Isiolo-Mado Gashe road after 2 miles to head towards the Ewaso Nyiro river and Merti. At the crossing point of the present road is a relatively new settlement called Malka Daka. This seems to have grown up chiefly to meet the needs of various irrigation schemes which have been attempted along the south side of the river. The river can be crossed without difficulty when there is no water flowing, but once the water reaches more than a few inches deep it can be very treacherous to attempt to cross by vehicle due to the sand base of the river bed.
Crossing the Ewaso Nyiro river.
When the river is in full flood, which it can do for months at a time, it is extremely powerful and destructive as evidenced by the mockery it has made of recent attempts to build a permanent bridge across it. This bridge would seem to be such an important feature for communication and development in the Waso area that it warrants particular attention.
The alternative roads to Merti
Due to the bizarre geography of Isiolo District more than 90 percent of the land area lies at this eastern end with Merti division having 49.4 percent of it north of the river and Garba Tula and Sericho divisions having a combined total of 41.4% south of it. Attempts have been made to build a permanent bridge to cross the river as this would be most advantageous for reliable communications - particularly for the transportation of goods and livestock by lorry. At present all movements from Merti to Isiolo of vehicles heavier than a Land Rover have to use the much longer and rougher secondary road westwards into Samburu district. This follows the north side of the Ewaso river over some very rough and hilly country until it reaches the Marsabit road. Vehicles must then head south to Archers Post which has the only permanent bridge over the Ewaso Nyiro river. This route takes between 4 - 8 hours to get between Merti and Isiolo, depending on the vehicle and its load. The more direct road through Garba Tula, Kinna and Meru allows a vehicle to reach Nairobi in that same time. There is the danger of shifta attack on this road at present but this will hopefully only be temporary.
The bridge across the Ewaso Nyiro.
The major and abiding problem is the failure of the bridge at Malka Daka. A multiple span Bailey bridge was erected on four tall reinforced concrete pillars about eight years ago. It lasted for four years before the river washed the sand from behind the concrete foundations on the southern bank. This was inevitable and foreseeable as the bridge crossing was sited on a bend of the river with no stone or rock on either bank. There is nothing but the alluvial sand of the flood plains on which to build. The steel Bailey bridge still spans the four concrete support pillars. Unfortunately the erosion of the south bank on the outside of the bend has continued and even accelerated. The Ministry of Public Works which is trying to repair the damage cannot work fast enough to keep ahead of the river to connect the bridge to the receding far bank.
Each year a concrete pillar has been erected, intended one day to carry another span of the Bailey bridge, but by the time it is completed the river has again flooded and the far bank retreated another 20 to 30 meters. So during the last four years four more pillars have been built which stand as a sad indictment of ill-planned technical assistance.
The Borana know their river.
The local people could not say why the bridge was sited on the particularly unfortunate place on the bend of the river. They are more concerned that at the rate the erosion is progressing their market town of Malka Galla will soon be gone. Some of the community leaders did point out that there was one place where the river never changed its course. It was less than two kilometers from the present bridge where the river approached a low rocky hill on the northern bank which formed the outside of a slow bend at that point. There was every evidence of a good rock base in the river bed with a well established high bank on the southern side. As this was on the inside of the bend of the river this would be safe from erosion even though it was only alluvial deposit. The young Borana chief at Malka Daka, Hussein Gufa Jila, seemed to understand the situation better than the expert engineers. He proposed that the rocky place which they referred to as Malka Andrea would have been a much better location for the bridge.
A sad demonstration of inappropriate development.
This was another example of participatory appraisal in action as the community leaders not only drew maps in the sand but insisted on conducting the research on foot through dense riverside bush to the place called Malka Andrea meaning the crossing of Andrea. It was then that the significance of the appellation Andrea became clear. Almost buried in the bush could be seen the remains of a large concrete block built house on the high southern bank of the river. This is where Andrea lived - a German aid worker who had been referred to several times as someone who really tried to help the Borana. He was tragically killed in a motor cycle accident on the path between his house and Malka Daka town, about 1 1/2 miles away. His demise was deeply regretted by the local Borana as they say it led to the collapse of the Malka Daka irrigation scheme which he had come to assist. "When he died the Kikuyus killed it" was the summary comment. (A fuller description of this scheme and its problems will be found in chapter 2)
In spite of the set backs the people of Malka Daka had experienced, they expressed the greatest interest in trying again to make use of the large area of land that had been cleared and levelled for several miles downstream. They repeatedly stated their readiness to dig the delivery channels that would be needed to take water to those areas for cultivation, as long as someone would show them where to dig. They had seen the levelling procedures and equipment used successfully at the neighbouring irrigation scheme at Gafarsa which allowed the water to flow only by gravity without any of the diesel powered pumps which had proved such a failure at the original Malka Daka government run schemes. It would be an interesting project for future development to see if the water intake and bridge could be combined.
4.9. The history of Christian witness amongst the Waso Borana
It seems to have been the official policy of the British colonial government in Kenya to keep all Christian missionaries out of the Northern Frontier District which in their administration began at Isiolo and extended northwards and eastward to the Ethiopian and Somali borders. There were no such restrictions placed on Muslim teachers and preachers from Somalia so it was during this period 1905 - 1963 that Islam advanced across northern Kenya and demonstrated its attractiveness to the many different pastoralists that occupy the area between Somalis, Uganda and the Sudan. It was sometimes carried by traders and lone Somali shopkeepers but it was the Somali herd owners who like to display their allegiance to Allah by public prayers often in groups together which showed the other pastoralists how Islam can work amongst people whose basic orientation is nomadic.
Institutional Christian missions
When Christianity did eventually begin to penetrate the former N.F.D. after independence it was brought in a very institutionalised form by Catholics and Protestants, often appearing to compete to build the biggest Mission Station with school, workshops, hospitals or clinics as well as "proper" church buildings. This was the normal pattern of visible Christianity in Kenya - well funded, and usually reflecting the ecclesiastical architecture of the various denominations who supplied the funds, Catholics from Europe, Presbyterians and Baptist from America, Methodists and Anglicans still known as the Church of the Province of Kenya, C.P.K. [1]
Whatever the merits and positive results may have been from building such expensive physical infrastructure amongst sedentary peoples, very few people seem to have questioned whether this was the best way to show the Christian faith to nomadic pastoralists. Land was acquired, often by direct command of the President, and buildings were established in the time honoured pattern. One situation was heard of where the original idea was not to build a permanent church structure but to experiment with the concept of a church meeting under a tree. This was recognised as being more likely to appeal to pastoralists, so that churches could meet wherever there was some shade. The pressure to build some thing permanent, visible and "to the glory of God" must have finally prevailed as a splendid edifice now stands in place of the tree. It joins the assortment of sacred buildings which can now be found in every place where there are mission stations and settlements located to government planning decisions.
The first Christian witness to the Borana - a Methodist.
The first Christian missionary who worked amongst the Waso Borana did not follow that path and made a very favourable impression "He did nothing but show God's love to them and they recognised his love and concern." (Verbal report form Pastor Golicha.) They remembered his name as Reverend Bernard who used to travel down from Meru to preach the Christian gospel to people all over northern Kenya. This began immediately after independence in 1963 when the colonial restrictions on Christian witness in the N.F.D. were removed. At the same time the Borana were being forced ruthlessly into the three large 'concentration camps' at Garba Tula, Merti and Modo Gashe. He may well have gone initially to minister to the needs of the hundreds of police and army personnel from the south who were needed to drive back the Somalis and to round up the Borana but he soon saw the awful conditions in those concentration camps. There were many thousands in each, the people and their animals starving because they could not take them more than 3 kms. away from the camps to find grazing. Untold thousands of animals died or were 'taken away by the army in trucks" and literally hundreds of women and children were dying every month, many of the men having been killed or fled to Somalia. It was when Rev. Bernard heard the report that more than 800 had died in the Merti camp in one month that he took the news to the outside world. He is still fondly remembered by the Waso Borana as the man who did most to help them in their darkest hour. "He was there before even Father Pius and did what he could to bring other agencies with food and medicine whilst he preached to the sick and dying." was the report of the only man we could find who remains of the hundreds of Borana who professed to become Christians through his preaching.
The Borana Protestant church leader.
This one convert from Merti is called Reverend Golicha. He and his family still live in Merti where he is officially the pastor of the Methodist church. He is away a lot as he is also responsible for all the Methodist churches in north east Kenya. There are very few of these, just small buildings in the main government towns attended by government workers from the south. When asked why did he think that all these first professing Christians left the Methodist church his reply was honest in recognising that the Borana do not like to share the same religion and the same church building as those people from the south. He also cited the reason that there were so few people who were able and willing to preach the Christian gospel in the churches which the Methodist church in Kenya had constructed. Nobody from the south, like Meru where Methodism is strong, wants to go and live in dry and isolated places in the northern lowlands and there were never enough committed Christians from the Borana to be pastors. "We took a few young men who could read and employed them as evangelists but many of them had no real experience of Christianity They just did it because there was no other work" he said. Rev. Golicha's endurance and cheerful commitment to his church work all over the north is exemplary but it seems to be quite as foreign to the Borana as he is in physical appearance to the usual lean Borana male.
The arrival and impact of Roman Catholic Christianity
There is no doubt that one of the major agents for change and introducer of development in Merti is the Catholic Father Pius. He began his work in Merti at the end of the 1960's when the Ewaso Borana were just being released from the concentration camps in which they had been confined during the shifta wars.
It was Father Pius who told us that he came to Merti largely as a result of hearing of the suffering at that time when 842 people died in the worst month. Unlike Garba Tula which had been an administrative centre since Colonial times, Merti was nothing more than an artificial gathering of people forced together into the concentration camp. During the time of the shifta wars there were no permanent buildings or infrastructure so when Father Pius made his first visit to Merti travelling from Isiolo he was offered the freedom to choose where to build his mission station. It would have been much quicker and cheaper to have built down on the alluvial plain but being the sort of man he is, he decided to choose a place part way up the escarpment of the volcanic rock plateau which forms such a conspicuous feature of Merti. This has meant that the Catholic mission stands out in a most impressive manner, elevated dramatically above the rest of the sprawling town which has developed on the plain below. Some indications of Father Pius's style can be gathered from the architecture of the buildings he has erected. Everything is painted pure white with his own house boldly labelled `Castel Gandolpho' (The name of the Pope's summer palace in Italy).
Below that are located his church, deliberately planned to look like a Muslim mosque, and a large community centre containing a giant TV screen. There are also dining rooms to feed all the primary school children in his end of town, two meals a day, seven days a week.
He has provided financial help to hundreds of young men and women, not only through primary school but thereafter through secondary school and on to higher education. For this reason nearly every Borana school teacher in Isiolo district as well as many of the other educated salary earners are beholden to Father Pius. Unfortunately, as happens all too often in situations of large scale charitable assistance, not all the recipients feel grateful to the donor. The most commonly heard complaint was that Father Pius tried to force people to go his way - do whatever training he felt best.
There is no doubt that he and the Catholic mission exercise a commanding influence over all that happens in Merti. He has been responsible for virtually all the development that has come to the rapidly growing town of Merti and nearby smaller towns. Twenty kilometres away at Bulesa there is a large primary school and church building with a similarly impressive bell tower. Father Pius regards the ringing of the massive bronze bells he hangs as a direct challenge to the calls to prayer coming from the Muslim mosques.
[1] The fact that this name is still used 30 years after independence is surely a tribute to African tolerance and an indication of anachronistic attitudes.