Tension high as two people are killed in Madogo, Tana River in clash over land dispute

Tension remains high in Madogo, Tana River County, following the deaths of two people on Friday after members of the Waradei and Malakote communities clashed over a land dispute.

Bangale Sub-County Police Commander, Iphraim Karanja, who confirmed the incident, said the two victims were killed separately at Anole and near the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) mast along the Garissa-Mombasa Road.

He stated that tensions escalated on Friday as the two communities clashed over the land dispute. “We responded swiftly and deployed adequate security officers to restore calm,” he said.

Karanja added that the situation could have been worse without the urgent intervention of security personnel in the Anole area, where schoolchildren and teachers, who were targeted for a retaliatory attack by one of the warring communities, were rescued.

He also noted that the warring communities were using firearms, bows, and arrows in the clashes, which security officers were struggling to contain.

Members of the public protest at Madogo Police Station when the bodies were brought to the station before being transferred to Garissa Referral hospital for postmortem. (Photo: Issa Hussein)

Karanja warned all parties involved in the clashes that the government would not hesitate to take action.

Mohamed Barisa, a community elder in Madogo, explained that following the River Tana floods, the Malakote community, the majority of whom are flood victims, were being relocated by the county government to land near the KBC mast along Mombasa road. However, the Waradei community, who are primarily pastoralists, opposed the move.

“They claim the land is their grazing land and will not allow the riverine community to be relocated there,” he said.

Barisa called on local leaders, peace committees, and government officials from the national and county governments to intervene and amicably initiate conflict resolution between the two communities.

Abdirizack Osman, who operates a transport business between Garissa town and Jaradende in Tana River County, told Eastleigh Voice that the clashes affected transport earlier in the day after rowdy youths from one of the warring communities barricaded the Garissa-Mombasa road at the KBC mast.

He said road users were stranded for two hours before calm was restored but noted that tension remained high in the area.

The clashes come a week after five political leaders from Tana River County were summoned to appear before the National Cohesion and Integration Commission on October 8 over incitements linked to clashes between communities in neighbouring Tana River and Kitui counties.