NÚCLEOS TEMÁTICOS A EXPLORAR EN LA ENTREVISTA.

The Ngoroko period started in the late 1960s to the early 1980s. Ngorokos were ‘rebel’ raiders from Turkanaland who according to Oba (1992) were former servicemen who acquired illegal arms and conducted raids outside Turkanaland. Bollig (2010) described the ‘state of civil war’ that prevailed during one of the Ngoroko attacks in Nginyang’ area of East Pokot. He argues that Ngoroko had a military organisation and firepower which devastated pastoralists’ households among the Pokot and Samburu. In one instance the Ngoroko shot dead 20 Pokot men, women and children during a raid in East Pokot (Bollig 2010). Mkutu (2005:173) noted the rise of Ngoroko attacks in Baragoi in 1965, this he was told led to the spiraling of violence between the Samburu and Turkana that laid the basis for today’s strife between the two communities inhabiting Baragoi.

25 _{KNA/PC/GRSSA/2/19/3 (1959) Tribal Bond on Boran Tribe in Accordance with Section 12 (1) Special Districts}

(Administration) Ordinance, Signed by Chief Galma Dida, Headman Halaki Fai, Guro Roga, Buda Luma and Huka Bagasi, Witnessed by P.D Abrams District Commissioner, Isiolo on 15th December 1959

26 _{KNA/DC/ISO/3/10/63 (1961) Stock Trespass to the District Commissioner, Maralal via Rumuruti from M.G}

43 Skoggard and Adem (2010:4) have attributed the rise of Ngoroko among the Turkana to the emergence of diviners as war leaders who not only blessed warriors before going to raids but participated in the organisation and leading of raiding parties. The rise of the Ngoroko has also been attributed to the proliferation of small arms and light weapons among the Turkana (Skoggard and Adem 2010:4). They argue that the introduction of guns in Northern Turkana enabled the independence of warrior groups from the control of elders. Ngoroko and the culture of violence was aided by the establishment of ‘separate power structures’ set up by great diviners and war leaders who took control of war making. Lamphear (1976) recorded that at the height of his powers, Ebei, the Turkana war leader in the early 1900s commanded up to 3,000 armed raiders from different clans of the Turkana. It is from these bands of fighters that the Ngoroko that terrorized Samburu and Pokot populations into the late 1980s emerged. The impact of Ngoroko raids on pastoralists’ livelihoods in Baragoi is well captured in the chronology of their raids in the late 1960s and 1970s as follows:

“In the early years of independence (1969) the Ngoroko invaded the villages of Lekupe and Lesokoyo at Tuum in Baragoi Division, injuring one and stealing several livestock. In 1970, the Ngoroko raided Baragoi area killing Lentoimaga27 of the Lmekuri age set. In the same year they raided Lepatoiye in Simale taking livestock. In 1972, the raiders invaded Tuum where eighteen of them were killed. In 1980, the bandits raided Lengees and Uaso-Baragoi manyattas injuring many people” (Mkutu 2005:270)

Ngoroko attacks on Turkana and Samburu populations of Baragoi escalated between the mid- 1960s to early 1980s. Missionaries who worked in Tuum and Parkati areas recorded the security threat posed by the Ngoroko and their need to obtain arms with the permission of the police (Tablino 2006:74). The indiscriminate nature of the Ngoroko attacks on fellow Turkana of Parkati is also described by Tablino (2006: 75) who noted the fear of the people of Parkati and also of the frequency of retaliatory attacks by Samburu groups from Tuum and South Horr who in their frustration revenged against the Turkana of Parkati. The devastating nature of Ngoroko attacks is further captured by Tablino’s (2006:75) respondent who witnessed the “skeletons of at least fifteen victims” in Parkati area. Bollig and Österle (2011) documented several incidences

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44 of Ngoroko attacks among the Pokot in 1977. These attacks provide a preview of the slipping away of the institutional framework that previously guided the cultural practice of cattle raiding. In their work, Bollig and Österle (2011) also documented the rise in retaliatory attacks between the Pokot and Turkana around Kapedo. It can be argued that Ngoroko attacks fuelled the need for Pokot and Samburu communities to acquire arms. This need was later fulfilled by the local political leaders who appealed to the government for arms citing the Ngoroko as a threat to their livelihoods and security. The Ngoroko period was marked by incessant attacks on less armed pastoralist groups.

Photo 3: The memorial cross at the spot where Fr. Luiggi Graiff of South Horr was killed by Ngoroko bandits in 1981, Source: Author.

In Baragoi, a catholic priest was killed by Ngoroko between Parkati and Tuum in 1981. Fr. Luiggi Graiff was an Italian parish priest from Trento who worked at the South Horr parish. His work required him to administer the gospel to Catholic groups in parish outposts such as Loonjorin, Parkati and Tuum areas. He was attacked and killed when Ngoroko bandits ambushed

45 them while he was driving from Parkati to Tuum with a group of Turkana altar boys who were being transferred to a boarding school in South Horr (Tablino 2006:75). The introduction of guns among the Samburu and Turkana of Baragoi contributed in the alteration of social relationships between these two groups. This can be seen in subsequent attacks and solidification of ethnic identities as explained in the effect of violence after 1996 (Mkutu 2000).