The pastoralist societies in Kenya’s arid lands frequently experience severe conflicts over access to water and pasture, they are subject to cattle rustling and highway banditry and are frequently caught up in politically motivated violence. The state apparatus is weak and largely unable to prevent, respond to or pacify these conflicts. In particular, judicial institutions regularly lack the capacity to try perpetrators and their presence has little deterrent effect. Law enforcement agencies have difficulties physically operating in the arid lands’ vast and harsh terrain and they receive little support from the local communities. The most prevalent problem, undermining the work...

The arid lands of Kenya have been subject to neglect in both governance and development assistance.² The harsh environment, the vast distances and the lack of infrastructure render a large part of the area virtually inaccessible and make its development a difficult undertaking. Frequent droughts are the most significant contributor to poverty in the area, with disastrous consequences for the livelihoods of the pastoralist populations. One drought can quickly extinguish the livestock of an entire community. It is therefore not surprising that the region is one of the poorest in Kenya.³

The number of conflicts between communities in the arid...

In order to bring an end to ongoing conflicts in the 1990s between arid lands communities or ethnic groups, local actors started ad hoc peace initiatives. Perhaps the most well-known is the Wajir Peace and Development Committee (WPDC). During years of intense conflict in Wajir District, a small group of educated Somali women began to meet with local market women to discuss conflict prevention. These women formed Wajir Women for Peace, which later joined with a group of other educated Somalis to form the Wajir Peace Group.¹⁵ This group first approached elders in warring communities, gradually expanding their peacebuilding and...

The declarations resemble a law with a penal code, which the parties in conflict have drafted themselves, and which was officially legitimated by the executive arm of the national government. Two analogies can be drawn. The declarations are like a miniature peace treaty between different communities. It is as if the two communities are countries and the overarching Kenyan law is like international law, which they may or may not use depending on their interests. Second, the meeting of different groups and the negotiation over the definition of basic legal principles is similar to early statehood, where different actors come...

The work of the peace committees is entirely relevant in some areas of the arid lands and has proven to be an important contributor to peace. For example, the research data indicates that in the Garissa-Isiolo area most respondents had heard of the peace committees and the declarations, and they generally rated them as important for stability. Respondents felt that the peace initiatives had a high impact and were generally successful in solving persisting conflicts. Perceptions were that the number of raids has decreased, more cattle have been returned and fewer killings have taken place. Unfortunately there is no data...

In order for the peace committees to be representative and inclusive, the revised ‘Garissa Declaration’ provides that members shall be democratically elected at the level of the sub-location, which is the lowest level in Kenya’s administrative structure, and sent as representatives to join the peace committee at the next highest level, the location.67 However, in practice representatives have been selected in different ways. Many members interviewed claim to have been elected by their respective community, some even describe the elections as ‘very competitive’. Others were appointed by the chief, or the elders, or were selected with interference of political leaders.⁶⁸...

The most significant flaws in the practice of the peace committees stem from the impact of power and politics. For example, the position of a peace committee member is voluntary. Members should be convinced of the aims of the committee and grant their services to the community for free. However, committee membership comes with certain incentives, such as travel, workshops, training or access to funding provided by donors through local NGOs. Furthermore, assuming a position on a committee may increase an individual’s status in his community and beyond, and can grant access to power not only for the individual but...

The peace initiatives in the arid lands are an intriguing case of bottom-up law making. The declarations are a serious competitor to the official justice system, because they tackle the areas in which the official system is weak. They integrate local stakeholders and work with local concepts and socio-political structures. They aim to tackle one of the most prevalent challenges in contemporary state building: harmonizing official institutions and local systems.

It is therefore important to carefully tackle the challenges arising from the new venture, and to look critically at best practices. This research was only able to provide a small...

The current debate of how to apply informal justice mechanisms and concepts in support of the official justice systems faces new challenges in northern Kenya. Currently debated and practiced approaches allow certain minor offenses and cases related to family law to be handled at the informal level. This is permitted to increase the solution’s legitimacy, to lower costs associated with resolution processes, and grant both faster and easier access to dispute resolution. However, in northern Kenya, some offenses which communities want to see solved exclusively through informal means are serious. One such example is murder. Exclusively allowing informal processes to...