SUMMARY
The non-state conflict between MDF (Moorland Defence Forces) and SLDF (Sabaot Land Defence Force) was part of the larger Mount Elgon Conflict. Mount Elgon is a mountain and a district in Kenya’s Western Province, and home to several ethnic groups, out of which the Sabaot is the largest one, accounting for 60% of the district's population. The Sabaot, which is part of the Kalenjin tribe-family, is divided into two sub-tribes: the Soy (also called the Semek) and the Mosop (also called the Ndorobo). The Soy account for 80% of the Sabaot, and traditionally live in the southern, lower part of Mount Elgon, while the minority Mosop life in the northern, higher areas.
The causes of the Mount Elgon conflict trace back to 1971, when the government started to relocate the Mosop from their homelands further south close to the Soy homelands, in order to protect the moorland, which constitutes a precious water catchment area. Until 2006, three big resettlement plans were implemented (Chepyuk I, II, and III). A series of factors such as poor preparation, lack of deeds of ownership, and corruption led to dissatisfaction among the Mosop and envy from the Soy. Along with a general ethnicisation of politics and land ownership in Kenya, the envy and feeling of neglect by the Soy led to that young Soy men started to defend their land with arms, quickly culminating in the creation of SLDF. Despite the name, SLDFwas largely Soy dominated, and its original targets were Mosop and moderate Soy. Since the government for a long time neglected the situation, Mosop started to organize its own defense, ultimately leading to the creation of MDF. Hence, the main objective of the MDF was to protect ethnic Mosop against SLDF.
Due to the remoteness of Mount Elgon in general and of the Moorlands in particular, little is known about the actual fighting. It is assumed that the two groups clashed already in 2007, yet no clear information on such clashes is available. In January 2008, the two groups engaged in a four-day battle, leaving 32 dead. With the beginning of the government’s military operation in Mount Elgon district and the resulting defeat and dissolution of SLDF, the conflict between MDF and SLDF ended in the spring of 2008.
The non-state conflict between MDF and SLDF is first included in UCDP data in 2008. In January of that year, fighting between the two groups led to more than 25 battle-related deaths.
