VZCZCXRO9179
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHNR #2687/01 1800705
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 290705Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY NAIROBI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0709
RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NAIROBI 002687 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AID/AFR/EA; USAID/DCHA/CMM; USAID/DCHA/OTI; SC/T; AF/E 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KE
SUBJECT: MANDERA LAUNCH OF KENYA-SOMALIA CROSS-BORDER 
CONFLICT MANAGEMENT PROGRAM TO INCLUDE ETHIOPIAN 
STAKEHOLDERS 
 
Reftel:  NAIROBI 04639 
 
¶1. USAID/East Africa representatives, accompanied by 
representatives of USAID contractor Development 
Alternatives, Inc. (DAI), recently visited Kenya?s 
conflict-prone northeast province of Mandera.  The two- 
night, three-day trip culminated in an event to launch 
the expansion of the Kenya-Somalia cross-border 
conflict management program which began in 2004 to now 
include Ethiopian stakeholders as well. 
 
¶2. This program highlights the hybrid forms of 
governance which have been emerging in ungoverned and 
under-governed spaces throughout Kenya, Ethiopia and 
Somalia, namely the mediated state (reftel).  This 
model involves collaboration between state actors 
(district commissioners) and local civil society 
organizations functioning as peace committees which 
bring together clan elders, women?s and youth 
organizations and local NGOs.  In the absence of a 
strong state presence, collaboration between the state 
representatives and the local peace committees provides 
a structure for early warning, community level 
response, and reconciliation of conflicts within the 
affected districts and in many cases conflicts which 
involve actors across the border. 
 
 
¶3. Background 
 
The Mandera Triangle region comprises of the Gedo 
region in Somalia, the Doolow region in Ethiopia, and 
the Mandera district in Kenya.  The social groups 
involved include the major Somali and bilingual Somali- 
Oromo clans of the Gabaweyn (Ethiopia, Kenya and 
Somalia), the Degodia (Kenya and Ethiopia), the Murrule 
(Kenya), the Marehan (Somalia), and the Garre (Somalia, 
Kenya and Ethiopia), as well as the other Somali- and 
Oromo-speaking clans.   These groups, who together form 
the populations of Mandera, Doolow and Gedo districts, 
are closely linked by geography and a shared social 
system, by religious and clan ties, and by commercial 
links and interests that stretch deep into the border 
areas of the three countries and beyond. 
 
¶4. Because the people of the Mandera Triangle are 
largely pastoralists, water and grazing rights are 
often a source of conflict.  Events outside local 
control such as the unfolding events in Somalia, 
drought and other natural disasters, or political 
competition among various clans (such as with the 
upcoming national elections) have the potential to 
heighten tensions.  Livestock raiding and other forms 
of banditry are common and have in the past escalated 
into clan-based cycles of violence. 
 
¶5. Weak state control or lack of a central state in 
Somalia?s case has meant that functions which would 
usually be undertaken by central authority have 
devolved to local actors in Gedo, Doolow, and Mandera. 
In all three regions, security has been enhanced by 
promoting informal and traditional mechanisms of 
conflict mitigation under the rubric of peace 
committees composed of local officials and civil 
society organizations. 
 
¶6. The formal launch of the new phase of USAID/EA?s 
project was a chance to formalize relationships that 
have been ongoing in the Mandera Triangle since 2004. 
Despite the Government of Kenya?s (GOK) official policy 
of sealing the border, Ethiopian officials and Gedo 
officials have been regularly meeting with the Mandera 
DC and other stakeholders in the cross-border work. 
 
 
¶7. Cross-border peace work from the Mandera perspective 
 
 
Within Mandera district, local peace structures have 
been evolving since USAID/Kenya and USAID/East Africa 
began their support in 2004.  What began as a peace 
committee centered on Mandera Town and initiated by 
three stakeholder groups--Women for Peace, Elders for 
Peace, and Youth for Peace--has evolved in to a 
district-wide committee representing not only  Mandera 
Town, but the other 17 locations within the district as 
well.  Two elders representing each of the Mandera 
locations, and 4 representing the town (the 2 
additional seats ensure that all 4 major clans within 
 
NAIROBI 00002687  002 OF 002 
 
 
the town are represented), constitute the Mandera 
District Peace Committee (MDPC).  The GOK?s 
representative in Mandera, the District Commissioner 
(DC), has been a key champion of the MDPC?s work and 
serves as the committee?s chair. 
 
¶8. Through the new formation, the MDPC elders report 
being able to better respond to conflicts throughout 
the district.  Mandera Town and its livestock market 
was previously a flashpoint for conflict.  However, the 
establishment of a ?peace market? in the town with area 
designated as the tribunal for MDPC members to 
officially mediate conflicts has helped reduce the 
number of conflicts centered on the town.  Currently, 
outlying areas of the district are experiencing more 
violence, banditry, and livestock raiding, and often 
the perpetrators live across the border in Ethiopia and 
Somalia.  Local clan elders in affected areas are 
trained by the MDPC and provide the first-immediate 
response.  Their representatives on the MDPC are able 
to report incidents and activate a wider response 
capability, including communicating with their cross- 
border partners when necessary.   Elders reported a 
number of incidents in which the cross-border network 
allowed cattle raided in one area in the Eastern part 
of Mandera to be retrieved from areas in Ethiopia. 
Similarly, elders attributed the dialogue that the 
cross-border program has fostered between the MDPC and 
its partners in Gedo as being a key factor in helping 
to mitigate the effects of instability in Somalia from 
spilling over in to Mandera. 
 
¶9. The Mandera DC?s ongoing participation in the peace 
building work has been instrumental in helping him 
carry out his official duties and to maintain peace in 
the region.  He recognized the effectiveness of 
deferring to the MDPC to help solve disputes between 
the populations of the three districts.  Using 
traditional means involving negotiated settlements 
between clans, rather than individual prosecutions 
through the criminal justice system, has proven more 
effective at preventing isolated incidents from 
escalating. 
 
 
¶10. Comments 
 
 
Local capacity, particularly in Mandera and Gedo, to 
deal with small incidents of conflict is promising. 
Though peace building efforts in Doolow are new, the 
commitment of local authorities and civil society 
stakeholders is strong.  However, USAID/Kenya partner, 
Practical Action, which also does peace work in 
Mandera, questioned whether the MDPC has the capacity 
to deal with potential tensions associated with the 
upcoming Kenya national elections. Competition for 
parliamentary seats has already led to a resurgence of 
clan identity which will likely be exploited by 
candidates vying for office. 
 
¶11. The GOK?s National Steering Committee on Peace 
Building and Conflict Management has developed a draft 
national policy on conflict management and peace 
building. However, the finalizaton of the policy has 
been delayed.  USAID partner DAI stressed the need for 
such a policy in all three countries to 
institutionalize and clarify the structures of local 
peace committees with which the central government will 
engage, which will in turn mitigate the potential for 
the peace committees themselves to become a source of 
conflict. 
 
¶12. In Mandera, MDPC members recognized the growing 
pains in evolving from a town-based organization to a 
district-wide organization.  In particular, various 
groups conferred legitimacy on the new arrangements 
depending on whether they felt more or less 
represented, and had better or worse access to 
external, donor resources used to support peace 
building.  These issues will continue to arise and 
USAID recognizes their role in helping to coordinate 
the many peace actors working in the Mandera district 
as well as across borders.  RANNEBERGER