It is three weeks since the last conflict related death in Isiolo. If you were to visit Isiolo town today you are likely to be told that the troubles are over, “Isiolo is peaceful now”. For some, and for the moment, this is true. However the residents of the worst hit areas, just a few …
Isiolo town and the immediately surrounding areas have been suffering repeated bouts of conflict and general insecurity since late last year. More than 40 people have been killed in the last 2 months and while the families of those who have died are devastated the conflict has much wider reaching consequences. Isiolo is often referred …
The drought had not yet broken when the latest cycle of violence hit the areas surrounding Isiolo town in Kenya. This was back in October last year and at first the violence seemed to be about the scarce resources. However, in November and December, the area received good rainfall and the land flourished. There is …
On Friday a car carrying two tourists was shot at near Shaba national park, just north of Isiolo. The Kenyan driver was killed and the two tourists injured. This is an appalling incident that will do a lot of damage to the tourism industry in Kenya. One friend of mine expressed the feelings of many …
From somewhere in the dark there was a long blood curdling scream, followed by a fierce almost lion like roar. For a brief moment ghastly images formed in my mind as a rush of adrenalin surged through my body. But then my mind cleared and I realised we were listening to wild pigs fighting. We …
Women are always at the front line of poverty, especially in rural areas. Northern Kenya is no exception, they feed the family, are responsible for finding water, collecting firewood and building the houses. Culture and poor access to family planning means that they can easily have eight children by the time they are thirty. Traditionally …
In The Shackled Continent journalist Robert Guest outlines various reasons for African poverty. He refers to a Peruvian economist, Hernando de Soto. This man has estimated that the value of what he calls ‘dead capital’ in poor countries, property that can not be capitalised because there are no title deeds, is roughly forty times the …