SUMMARY
The conflict between the Dassanetch and the Turkana was played out in SNNPR’s (Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s Region) South Omo zone in south-western Ethiopia and Rift Valley Province’s Turkana district in north-western Kenya. More specifically, it took place in Ethiopia’s Lower Omo Valley, in the adjacent so-called Ilemi Triangle – a 10 000 to 14 000 square kilometer area that is claimed by Ethiopia, Kenya and Sudan alike, but de facto controlled by Kenya – and the northern-most part of Turkana district. The dry, semi-desert region is home to a large number of agro-pastoralist groups, between which relations are fluid. While some groups are seen as "eternal enemies", with whom a group is in a constant state of conflict, there are other groups that can serve as allies of convenience from time to time, but that can change just as swiftly back into being enemies.
While the Dassanetch and the Turkana are neighboring peoples, they are largely divided by the Ethiopian-Kenyan border, with the Dassanetch mainly residing in Ethiopia and the Turkana in Kenya. However, since the groups are pastoralists and move with their herds according to season, they come into contact in their border area. The two groups share a conflictual past, having fought each other intermittently but repeatedly. While the states’ influence is limited on both sides of the border, interventions from the center have played some part in shaping the relationship between the Dassanetch and the Turkana. At the very least, the central intervention has influenced power relations between the two groups.
When the Lower Omo Valley was incorporated into Imperial Ethiopia at the turn of the 20th century, the regime began to arm the Dassanetch against the British, who at the time controlled Kenya and had put an end to Ethiopia’s westward expansion. The British, for their part, initially gave firearms to the Turkana, but when the group used them against the neighboring Pokot, the colonial power launched a large expedition against them, breaking their hold on the region. The Dassanetch subsequently gained an upper hand in the inter-ethnic relations and were able to completely dominate the Turkana for a long period. However, this caused the British to once more re-arm sections of the Turkana, who managed to reclaim some lost territory. When the Italians occupied Ethiopia in the 1930s, the Dassanetch experienced a new period of supremacy, gaining both weapons and training from the Europeans. After the Italians withdrew the British once more helped the Turkana to reclaim land and the border of the Ilemi Triangle was even pushed further north. Continuous cross-border raids by the Dassanetch led the Kenyan government to push for disarmament of the former, and this was eventually carried out in the 1960s, making the Dassanetch and Turkana more equally matched, but giving neighboring Nyangatom an advantage, since they had obtained weapons from the SPLM/A (Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army), fighting the Sudanese regime.
Over the past decades, the region has come to be awash with weapons, due to conflicts in neighboring Sudan and Uganda, and for the Dassanetch this has meant an increased liberty to once again utilize firearms against enemies since the government’s administrative control over them has been tenuous. The Turkana, on the other hand, have been targeted by frequent and sustained government efforts to disarm them. While they do have access to firearms, the re-armament has been carried out by isolated territorial sections and not by the whole Turkana ethnic community, wherefore the Dassanetch has had the upper hand for some time.
Aside from outside interventions, one of the most common causes of conflict between the groups is access to natural resources, particularly water and grazing. As pressure on these resources has increased, underlying tensions between the Dassanetch and the Turkana, based on their conflictual past, have been exacerbated, with intermittent fighting as a result. Subsequently, a distinct pattern in Dasanetch - Turkana relations is that the level of violence tends to increase in the wake of droughts.
Another major cause of deadly conflict between the groups is the practice of cattle raiding, found in the area for centuries. Raiding neighboring groups has been, and continues to be, a way to replenish herds in the wake of disease or drought. Once a raid is carried out and cattle driven away, this creates a vicious circle of counter-raids that many times lead to substantial violence. With the introduction of automatic weapons in the region this oftentimes turns lethal. Yet another reason for fighting between the Dassanetch and the Turkana is the tradition that young men of the groups constitute their respective villages fighting force. After being initiated they are responsible for protecting both the tribe and the cattle and there are many instances of a spiral of violence starting up as a result of young men wanting to show their bravery, either by raiding cattle or by killing a person of the opposing group. Raiding may also be the only option available for young men who want to build the herd necessary for marriage, both for bride-wealth and for self-sustainment. Another common trigger for conflicts is the theft of fishing equipment as well as acts of piracy between fishing boats on Lake Turkana.
As with most other conflicts in the region, fighting is intermittent and occurs in short bursts. Commonly, a period of relative calm may be punctuated by small episodes of cattle raiding, which in some instances triggers a more forceful response by one of the parties, whereby overall violence escalates. In many instances there is no such escalation, however, but fighting continues on a low-scale or peters out. The difference between these two scenarios is generally what determines whether the Dassanetch - Turkana conflict is recorded as active (at least 25 battle-related deaths) or not in a year. There have also been periods of relative peace, most recently connected to peacemaking efforts by local NGOs.
The type of violence carried out in the conflict varies widely, ranging from violent cattle raids that turn into large battles, to attacks on villages where the target is women and children. It is also common with individual killings of a person of the opposing group, which leads to a spiral of tit-for-tat killings. It is held by elders in the region that the nature of the violence has changed over the past 20 years, as the rules that used to govern raiding and fighting have loosened.
The non-state conflict between the Dassanetch and the Turkana is first included in UCDP data in 1997. In June of that year Turkana tribesmen attacked a Dassanetch camp near the border, killing women and children, and stealing hundreds of cattle. They were subsequently pursued back into Kenya by Dassanetch fighters and the ensuing fighting pushed the death toll over the 25 battle-related deaths threshold.
