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80. The Sakuye are a minority and marginalised community within a region inhabited by people who describe themselves as minorities and marginalised. Their unusual ethnic origins place them right at the edge of most stories about Northern Kenya.

Most anthropologists lump the Sakuye together with the Rendille, another small community also believed to have formed several centuries ago as a result of interactions between the Borana-Oromo groups from the north and Somalis from the west. Although they speak Borana, the Sakuye are distinct from the Borana and the Rendille and have their own unique social and religious norms, including worship of a supreme being known as Waaq. However, prolonged exposure to Islamic beliefs of their more numerous and powerful neighbours has meant that most Sakuye are now Muslim. Numerical weakness has put the Sakuye in an extremely precarious position.

2009 Census figures place the total Sakuye population at about 28,000.⁴⁴ With such a small number, the Sakuye live in relative obscurity. One would be hard-pressed to argue that the Sakuye have had any political and cultural relevance outside their corner of Moyale - a tiny location known as Dabel.

81. Their small population defined the Sakuye experience during the Shifta War as well. A count in 1969 estimated the Sakuye population to be around 4,700. A review of the literature has produced no evidence that the Sakuye, unlike the more politically active populations of Wajir, Garissa and Isiolo, played any part in either formulating or supporting the secessionist agenda. There is also no direct indication of Sakuye contributions to the fighting forces. Despite their having no obvious role in the campaign and lacking the numerical weight to present any serious threat, the Sakuye nevertheless became the focus of intensive anti-Shifta assaults. The first step was villagisation. Like the Isiolo Borana further south, the Sakuye were herded into the so-called protected

44 Population by Ethnic Affiliation see http://marsgroupkenya.org/census/?data=ethaf Accessed 14^th February 2012.Historically, there has been a certain degree of undercounting of the Sakuye. Less nuanced censuses from the late 1960s and 1970s have sometimes categorized them as Borana

villages in and around Moyale. It was a rough and ready process that in typical fashion paid little attention to Sakuye property and well-being.

82. Witnesses testified that the military applied some kind of scorched earth policy, destroying everything in their wake as Dabel was cleared of its inhabitants:

Those people were pushed from Dabel up to Moyale…they were pushed all through to that stretch of Gula Location. All the houses were burned and even the best business people as of that time…everything that I have mentioned happened at the Dabel Location…⁴⁵

83. Witnesses testified that the Sakuye also suffered the usual loss of livestock on a grand scale. By the end of the war, the Sakuye were in the same miserable situation as most other communities in Northern Kenya. They were, in essence, destitute:

All the camels and cows they had were taken by the government and the Sakuye community was left bankrupt; they had nothing. So many things happened when they were in those camps. For example, their wealth vanished, poverty dawned on them and death visited them. The leader who could talk on behalf of the community was arrested and jailed. There was no way anybody could be asked why he said this or that. So, the poor Sakuye people just died like that. There is no record to show how many people and animals died because the government never wanted to know anything of that sort of thing. They only cared about making their operation successful.⁴⁶

84. The Sakuye also experienced extensive loss of life while in the protected villages.

The government drove the Sakuye even further to Somalia.

People from that community died until the government decided to push them to Somalia and a majority of them died along the way. There is no record to show how many people and animals died because the government never wanted to know anything of that sort of thing. They only cared about making their operation successful. It is the same government that ordered the soldiers to push these people to Somalia by trekking. Nobody has ever known the number of the people who died on the way. When the poor Sakuye people arrived in Somalia, they were not taken in as ordinary refugees. They were just taken as ordinary people who had been in that country and nobody cared for them…but remember that they came from a country which was independent - Kenya.⁴⁷

85. We were 18 women and I can even show you the houses where we were put. The soldiers locked the doors of the houses and they took us as their wives.⁴⁸ In many respects, the Sakuye experience of the Shifta War can be described as fairly typical. On the particular issue of sexual violence against women, however, Sakuye experiences

45 TJRC/ Hansard/ Public Hearing/ 30 April 2011/ IMoyale / p. 8 46 TJRC/ Hansard/ Public Hearing/ 30 April 2011/ Moyale/ p. 4 47 TJRC/ Hansard/ Public Hearing/ 30 April 2011/ Moyale/ p. 4 48 TJRC/Hansard/Women’s Hearing/Wajir/19 April 2011/p. 7.

take a much more drastic, extreme and unusual turn. When the Commission began to explore the general question of sexual violence in Northern Kenya there was concern that a number of religious and cultural considerations would limit the work the Commission would be able to carry out on this important topic. When investigations, research and data collection began, however, the extent to which both women and men from this traditionally conservative region came forward to speak about such intimate and painful issues surprised the Commission. It may well be that the desire for the truth to be known and for justice to be pursued trumped both cultural and religious sensibilities. Several middle-aged women who were violated during the early 1960s came forward to share their stories.

86. The testimonies and evidence of such highly motivated respondents from Sakuye and beyond gave the Commission the material with which to make assessments about patterns and prevalence of sexual violence in Northern Kenya, particularly during the Shifta period. A number of important trends emerged from the Commission’s data. Most fundamentally, among the statements recorded with the Commission, rape, attempted rape and other forms of sexual violence were the sixth most common violations reported as taking place during the four-year war fought in Northern Kenya. The Commission also found that of the five perpetrator groups identified as responsible for sexual violence by those who recorded statements with the Commission, the military was named as being responsible for the largest proportion of incidents. The police were a close second. The Commission was, therefore, able to link violations with perpetrators.

87. The information available to the Commission is less clear about the actual circumstances under which sexual violence took place. Witness testimony suggests all number of scenarios. Women out herding animals would be set upon by military men out on patrol.⁴⁹ Other assaults took place during security operations which might have involved, for instance, security officers storming into manyattas in search of Shifta fighters and those giving them refuge. The Commission heard how people were frequently subjected to severe beatings as they were forced out of their homes. It is entirely possible that rapes occurred at the same time. Due to a relatively small sample, the Commission also found itself unable to arrive at a broad-based understanding of soldiers’ attitudes and actions towards the issue of sexual violence. In general, military officers and security operatives from the Shifta era as a whole proved to be a somewhat reticent and elusive lot, willing to shed light on certain topics but suddenly forgetful on others. One of the officers

49 Recent research in Wajir indicates that women (and young women in particular) who are traditionally charged with the herding of small livestock such as sheep and goats currently represent more than 80% of all reported rape and sexual assault cases. The reason for this is quite simple: women and girls in this position are isolated and vulnerable. See Gladys Mwangi and Guyo Jaldessa, An Assessment of Sexual and Gender Based Violence in Wajir District, North Eastern Kenya. New York: Population Council,

who testified before the Commission was Colonel (retired) Frank Muhindi who served as a Platoon Commander in Garbatulla in 1965. The retired colonel, it must be emphasized, spoke entirely in his own capacity; he did not appear before the Commission on behalf of the Kenya army. Colonel Muhindi denied hearing about sexual assault of local women by military officers:

Leader of Evidence: When we were in that part of the country we were told that women were sexually assaulted by security officers. Did you receive such reports?

Col (retired) Frank Kariuki Muhindi: No I did not. All military persons or policemen knew that the repercussions would be drastic if they were confirmed to have done that.

The repercussions would be very severe.⁵⁰

88. When pressed further, Colonel Muhindi conceded that sexual assaults may have taken place but that they would have been committed by isolated, aberrant officers and not therefore characteristic of the military as a whole:

Leader of Evidence: Would it surprise you that we had reports from women that there were many incidents of brutal rapes against women who would be on their way to attend to basic needs?

Col (retired) Frank Kariuki Muhindi: I would not deny that there would be such incidents. However, I can assure you that if a military person or a policeman was discovered to have been involved in that kind of activity, they were severely punished because that would be outside our code of conduct. There were specific instructions that that should not happen. We are human beings and it may have happened.⁵¹ 89. Colonel Muhindi’s testimony alludes to the existence of a military code of conduct

and subsequent investigations into breaches of that code. The Commission was unable to establish if, when and how any such investigations took place. What the Commission arrived at, however, was an appreciation that the military would have been highly unlikely to accept responsibility for all occurrences of rape and sexual violence in Northern Kenya. Colonel Muhindi’s testimony indicates - and evidence collected by the Commission corroborates - that the Shifta fighters themselves also committed violence against women:

Some of these incidents were even inflicted upon them by their own people. You have Shifta men and they have hunger for women…⁵²

90. What the Commission uncovered amongst the Sakuye, however, was an incident that challenges the prevailing official view that sexual violence during the Shifta War was infrequent, isolated and unofficial. The Commission’s investigations in the Sakuye stronghold of Dabel located a small group of now elderly women

50 TJRC/ Hansard/ Public Hearing/ 24 June 2011/ Nairobi/ p. 9 51 TJRC/ Hansard/ Public Hearing/ 24 June 2011/ Nairobi/ p. 10 52 TJRC/ Hansard/ Public Hearing/ 24 June 2011/ Nairobi/ p. 11

with extraordinary tales of extreme sexual violence and abduction. The women eventually travelled to Moyale to speak publicly and frankly before the Commission about their ordeals. Their stories are detailed but they are, unsurprisingly, bereft of specific dates and locations.

91. In April 1965 (or thereabouts), a contingent of about four army trucks arrived in Gula, a settlement of about a dozen manyattas located some distance away from Moyale. What happened next has remained imprinted on the victims’ memories, nearly half a century later. The Gula men were taken away. Where they were taken is unclear, but it seems that they may have been taken to a police station nearer Bute, a small urban centre south-west of modern-day Moyale. Between 15 and 30 women from the village were also ferried away to a place known as Dhidhanani.⁵³ Not much is known about Dhidhanani, save that it was close to a water pan and may have been the location of a military encampment. The women were kept in Dhidhanani for a number of days; some accounts say three and others say five.

During that time, they were raped multiple times by multiple men.

92. The rapes were extremely violent and the Commission witnesses did not shy away from describing them in detail. Mama Halima Martille, now an elderly woman but at the time a young girl, remembers very clearly what happened to her:

Men sat on my head and legs. I could not look left or right. Some were even putting soil in our private parts saying: “Fill with soil”. They filled us with soil and left us. We are human beings. We did not die, but we removed the soil and went away. We were smelly and dirty as a result of what they did to us.⁵⁴

93. Although most of the women have long since died, there are still a few survivors who corroborate and support each other’s stories. Mama Zainabu Hiyesa’s story was almost identical to Mama Hartille’s:

One soldier held my right hand and the other one held my left hand and another held my left leg. They just raped us. They did not see us as dead but they just raped us for six hours. This was until midnight. At some moment they left us for a minute and then other people raped us. For the first five days, four people were unable to wake up.⁵⁵ 94. Halima Ado met the same fate as the other Gula women:

I can say truly that there were four trucks and they took us for five days. I was raped. You can look at my leg. I have some scars which occurred when they were trying to rape me. I was strong. I was fighting, but they stepped on my legs. One was holding my head down.

They tried to pierce me with some... for five days they were raping us. They only gave us

53 May also be spelt as “Ndhidh Adhani”

54 TJRC/ Hansard/ Public Hearing/ 30 April 2011/ Moyale/ p. 33 55 TJRC/ Hansard/ Public Hearing/ 30 April 2011/ Moyale/ p. 31

one hour. We were not able to sit or bring our…I am sorry to say this, but I have seen a donkey do that, but not a man. They were forcing us to do things that I have never seen.

They would beat us. That is what the government did to us⁵⁶

95. At the end of the three to five days, the women were released. Injured and traumatised, their lives were changed forever. None of them sought any treatment other than local medicinal and herb washes. Many of the women attributed their subsequent inability to conceive to injuries sustained during the attack. The Commission was, unfortunately, unable to investigate in detail the actual physiological damage done to the women. So many years after the event, such investigations would require a level of specialised medical inquiry that was not available to the Commission. One thing is absolutely certain, however: the women continue to suffer today from post-traumatic stress. The delivery of their testimonies given during the Commission hearings veered from one extreme to the next: cold detachment, on the one hand and overwhelming emotion on the other.

56 TJRC/ Hansard/ Public Hearing/ 30 April 2011/ Moyale/ p. 36

A woman at a Community forum convened by the Commission.

96. The impact of these rapes on the Sakuye was profound. Community representatives explained to the Commission that in the wake of the assault, the decision was made to leave Kenya altogether and seek safety and refuge in Somalia. Some accounts of the relocation recast the move as entirely involuntary, with government soldiers accused of forcing the Sakuye to flee. The journey was a harrowing one as families were separated and people died along the way. The Sakuye then found themselves living in Somalia as refugees trying to rebuild their lives in, ironically, the very country that has itself sent hundreds of thousands of refugees to Kenya. The Sakuye would remain in Somalia for nearly three decades until an apparent plea for them to return home was issued by President Mwai Kibaki soon after he took office in 2002.⁵⁷ Very quickly, the Sakuye ran into another problem: they were unable to prove Kenyan nationality and so were not issued with identity documents. The matter was mentioned in Parliament in June 2004 when a Member of Parliament, Dr. Guracha Boru Galgallo, sought to find out why more than 100 returnees had had to endure nearly two years of so-called “vetting” to establish their origins.⁵⁸

97. The Sakuye returnees had to prove their Kenyan citizenship. Citizenship is the foundation upon which many other rights (the right to vote, the right to education and employment, the right to health, the right to own property, etc.) rests. Inhabitants of Northern Kenya find it very difficult to acquire birth certificates, passports and, above all, national identity cards that function as proof of citizenship in almost all facets of Kenyan life. The vetting process to which the Sakuye were subjected upon their return involved applicants presenting themselves before a local vetting committee that usually consisted of a District Officer, a registration officer from the National Registration Bureau, chiefs, village elders and intelligence officers. The purpose of these committees was to determine the nationality of the applicant and eligibility for an identity card.

98. There was no legal basis for this vetting procedure. Nevertheless it has become de facto policy and practice at the National Registration Bureau.

Despite various legal challenges, vetting remains. Northerners are generally required to present a staggering variety of documents to the registrars and the vetting committees. More often than not, these are documents that the applicants simply do not possess, such as letters of allotment, title deeds, electricity and water bills, as well as letters of employment. Applicants are also routinely asked to produce their parents’ and grandparents’ identification papers. It is a continuing source of both anger and dismay that applicants in other parts of Kenya do not generally have to meet this burden of proof.

57 TJRC/ Hansard/ Public Hearing/ 30 April 2011/ Moyale/ p. 7

58 Kenya National Assembly Official Record (Hansard) 30^th June 2004, 2249 – 2250

99. It can and undoubtedly will be argued that one incident in one small settlement cannot be taken as representative. The Commission was of the view that it is impossible to discount the possibility that the events of Gula and Dhidhanani were not replicated elsewhere. Indeed, the Commission collected enough data and heard enough first-hand testimony to suggest that it was more than likely that sexual violence against women was a frequent occurrence during the Shifta War. Moreover, sexual violence was frequently accompanied by abduction, torture and killing on a broad scale. The military’s reluctance to address the allegations of sexual violence committed by their officers makes it difficult for the Commission to analyse the structural and other conditions that made such violence possible. The Commission would have benefitted from a more candid discussion of these issues from the military, especially since the testimony of

99. It can and undoubtedly will be argued that one incident in one small settlement cannot be taken as representative. The Commission was of the view that it is impossible to discount the possibility that the events of Gula and Dhidhanani were not replicated elsewhere. Indeed, the Commission collected enough data and heard enough first-hand testimony to suggest that it was more than likely that sexual violence against women was a frequent occurrence during the Shifta War. Moreover, sexual violence was frequently accompanied by abduction, torture and killing on a broad scale. The military’s reluctance to address the allegations of sexual violence committed by their officers makes it difficult for the Commission to analyse the structural and other conditions that made such violence possible. The Commission would have benefitted from a more candid discussion of these issues from the military, especially since the testimony of