WEEKLY CONFLICT BRIEF COVERING THE WEEK 12TH AUGUST TO 19TH AUGUST 2021 WITH A FOCUS TO COAST REGION OF KENYA
1.0 KEY ISSUES FOR THIS REPORT
During this week, KECOSCE’S EWER hub received 9 reports. The main issues reporting during the week were human-wildlife conflicts in Kilifi and Lamu that led to loss of two (2) lives as a result of an attack by a wild animals on human beings in Lamu County. The counties of Kwale and Mombasa continued to suffer from Illegal gang attacks, while Tana River and Kilifi counties reported major Gender Based Violence conflicts.
During this week, a member of community policing team in Changamwe was killed in PortReitz by a gang. The leader died as he together with other community members tried to repel the group. Although police are investigating the matter, the attack has caused fear amongst peace and security community volunteers who put their lives on line to safeguard their communities.
2.0 WEEKLY CONFLICT BRIEF UPDATE
Kenya Community Support Centre (KECOSCE)’s Early Warning and Early Response (EWER) system continued to receive information from the six counties of the Coast region. The number of events reported generally in week 3 increased by 28.57%. These reports majorly are human-wildlife conflicts involving competition for scarce resources such as water and food. The figure below summerizes the events reported in this reporting periodreceived received 9 reports during this reporting period. From the reports received, Mombasa County remains the most volatile with 44.4% of the total events reported. Taita Taveta and Tana River did not report any incidences. Kwale and Lamu reported 2 incidents each while Kilifi had 1 incident. The following is a summary of the incident reports disseminated into the KECOSCE’s EWER System.
CONFLICTS REPORTED BY CATEGORIES
The reports received were in the following categories. From the reports, this week was characterized by natural resources/land evictions in the Coast region. Illegal gangs continue to cause pains and tension amongst the communities especially in Kwale and Mombasa counties. As the country await the Court of Appeal decision on BBI, all the counties experienced citizens’ concerns over fears of political conflicts, ethnic profiling/evictions in the counties. The report on feared terrorist threat in Mombasa ignited fears of possibility of increased possibility of threats by violent extremism groups in Mombasa and their linkages with criminal illegal gangs in the same county.
3.0 CONFLICTS PREDICTION TABLE
| PREDICTION OF EVENTS IN WEEK 3 OF AUGUST | JUSTIFICTION | EVENTS REPORTED FROM 13TH -19 TH AUGUST |
| Armed gang activities in Mombasa | The county has remained the most volatile for over 4 weeks and has reported over 3 incidences of illegal gang activity in each week. | A man was attacked and killed by a gang identified as Maunga Squard in Portoreiz, Changamwe sub county |
| Land conflicts in Kisauni | Most of the land owners do not have title deeds for their land. | Some homes were demolished in areas around Vikwatani following a conflict over land between residents and a school. |
Table 1: The events predicted by KECOSCE in week 3 of August, 2021.
4.0 VIOLENT AGAINST CIVILIANS UPDATES
Terrorism in Mombasa. A vehicle believed to contain an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) is being tracked by police in Mombasa. This follows the arrest of 3 terror suspects on 9th August in Majengo, Mombasa. Police intelligence reported that the 3 are connected to a terror group routed in Somalia, Kenya, Egypt and Uganda. They said to have been on the police radar since July 3 when they were spotted in a hotel in Mazeras, Kilifi County. The police in Rabai station seized an ID card and 2 passports after they escaped in Kilifi. This prompted one of them to visit Rabai police station in order to recover their documents which led to his arrest and the crackdown on his counterparts in Majengo. The police confiscated their phones for forensic analysis by the Cyber Crime Unit.
Increase in illegal gang attacks in Lamu. Human rights activists and community leaders have raised concern over increased machete attack in Lamu Island. A man aged 30 was attacked by a group of machete-wielding goons on Tuesday 10th at 6pm while walking home in Lamu West Sub County. The victim suffered deep cuts on his head and limbs. From its analysis and that of secondary sources, KECOSCE established that at least 20 people are attacked every month in the Lamu County