POLITICS IN TURKANA:The Politics of Food in Turkana District

Nairobi — Thirty years ago, then Turkana Central MP Peter Ejore vigorously denied in Parliament that there was famine in his home district, despite the fact that tens of thousands of his constituents were already in famine camps.
In the Kenyatta and Moi era, it was almost treasonable to claim that people had died of hunger. There is no such fear in these democratic and ICT days.

 

Politicians and lobbyists nowadays use every method possible to highlight their people's suffering. In an area prone to regular droughts, it is inevitable that relief food will affect the politics of the day.

As a result, food is politics and politics is food in Turkana. The district's three legislators are all former employees of Oxfam and many other politicians have proven track records in emergency work.
This, then, is the background to that horror story of a family eating dog meat in Loima Division. Turkana Professional Association (TPA), in their internet blog, almost unanimously dismiss the story as a fabrication that discredits the image of a proud, pastoralist community.

 

The story may shock the nation into action, but it only compounds negative public perceptions about the community. The media are only too willing to present images of starving Turkanas that does a great injustice to a community who are not short of heroes and heroines.

The district is the home of the beautiful and graceful Ajuma, who models on the global stage. Paul Ereng's Olympic Gold medal in Seoul was achieved in athletics while, more recently, the district provided the coordinator of the committee of experts that gave us the new constitution, Ekuru Aukot.

 

So if the meat story is unrepresentative, then where does the truth lie? Certainly efforts by the World Food Programme (WFP) to distribute food in Turkana Central have been frustrated since July due to insistence by the local MP that Kenya Red Cross become the leading agency in the distribution.

He himself has also had to face criticisms that his relatives manage the local KRC branch. While there does appear to be some food shortage in Turkana, the Early Warning System (EWS) of the Arid Land Resource Management together with the WFP state in their report for this final quarter that there is 'moderate food insecurity... but food security is expected to improve through late 2010 and into mid 2011'.

This hardly suggests an emergency as reported in the press. Relief food certainly is a passionate issue in Turkana. Yet, politicians remain indifferent to the pathetic state of the Kitale-Lokichoggio road that links the district with Southern Sudan.
Again, the Friends of Lake Turkana (Folt) have raised the alarm over the $1.7 billion Gibe III Dam constructed on the River Omo that threatens the livelihoods of 20,000 fishermen. The water level of Lake Turkana is expected to drop by 12 metres with the construction and the Samburu, Gabra and Rendille communities will be equally affected.
Two days ago, Folt led a protest to the Chinese Embassy in Nairobi who are funding the project. The march had little political support. Roads, resources, minerals and infrastructure offer great opportunities to Turkanas to eliminate poverty. Yet, for decades their politicians have acted as if leadership is just about entitlement to endless relief food