SUMMARY
The conflict between the Borana and the Garre has a long history and has been played out in a variety of settings in two different states, Ethiopia and Kenya. One over-arching factor influencing Borana - Garre relations is the conflict-ridden relationship between the Somali (Ethiopia) and Oromo ethnic groups. The area inhabited by the Borana and Garre is right on the border between these two ethnicities and is subsequently characterized by tensions between them. While Borana is one of the main Oromo groups, the Garre by most accounts belong to the Somali (Ethiopia) community. Accordingly, their relationship has over time been conflictual, with the two groups viewing each other as traditional enemies.
However, ascribing ethnic identity in the region is not uncomplicated, as some groups tend to shift group belonging strategically according to their own situational needs. This shift is rendered possible since some groups can be viewed as Oromo by one set of criteria (such as language) and Somali by another set of criteria (clanship and religion for instance). Subsequently, these groups can stress their affiliation to the two overarching groups more or less, depending on the context. The Garre group, have at some points in time chosen to stress their link to the Borana and during these periods the two have forged an alliance against other groups.
For a long time the two groups were allies in the so-called Worr Libin (People of Libin) alliance, with the Borana as senior partners. The Worr Libin, which consisted of a network of alliances, had been established by the Borana as the group expanded from their Ethiopian heartland into present-day northern Kenya, some time in the mid-17th century. When the area that had been under the Borana sphere of influence was divided between Ethiopia and British East Africa, this meant an end to the group’s regional supremacy. The 20th century saw increased competition between the Borana and the Garre, with the latter group increasingly stressing their Somali identity and pushing westward into Borana territory. There were no large-scale conflicts between the groups, however, and the outbreaks of fighting could generally be settled locally.
This changed when the Borana and the Garre were drawn into the conflict between the Ethiopian and Somali states, in the 1960s and 1970s. The Garre in Ethiopia, who had come to primarily view themselves as Muslims and Somali, first the WSLF (Western Somali Liberation Front), a rebel group that with Somali support fought to join their ethnic brethren in Somalia, and then the Somali troops when they launched an invasion into southern Ethiopia. The Borana, while harboring anti-government sentiments similar to those of the Garre, still chose to remain on the Ethiopian state’s side, mainly due to their conflictual relationship with the Garre. They were simply scared to lose their land to Somali pastoralists should Somalia, or the Somali-supported groups, win the war. Upon defeat, large numbers of Garre were forced to flee Ethiopia, taking refuge in Kenya and Somalia. During the late 1980s and in the 1990s many of them returned and were joined by numerous Kenyan pastoralists with no prior history of settlement in the area.
Historically, the main source of conflict between the Borana and the Garre were competition for pastoral resources such as water and grazing, coupled with animal theft. Furthermore, an over-arching theme was that of the Garre's westward expansion into Borana territory. However, the political situation in both Ethiopia and Kenya has added another layer to the conflict, as ethnicity has become politicized and territorialized. In Ethiopia succeeded in overthrowing the military regime ruling the country after 16 years of armed conflict in May 1991. The new government soon began to convert the country into an ethnic federation, redrawing Ethiopia's political map along ethnolinguistic divisions. Although not fully put into practice, the 1994 constitution granted ethnic groups unconditional right to self-determination up to and including secession. Ethnicity has subsequently become territorial in a completely new way and analysts have pointed out that since the introduction of federalism along ethnic lines, there has been a general pattern of conflicts arising as a consequence of groups scrambling to claim scarce land and other resources for themselves.
For Borana and Garre, the new constitution meant that they found themselves on opposite sides of the new administrative boundary between the Oromiya and Somali regional states. However, it was never decided exactly how the actual boundary should be demarcated, which meant that the areas that had previously been shared by the two groups became disputed. Subsequently, the nature of the inter-group conflict changed from revolving largely around competition for resources, to center more on administrative boundary issues. Furthermore, as the Garre westward expansion continued, the Borana increasingly stressed their territoriality and expressed a need to defend their remaining lands from further encroachment by their neighbors. In this context, the return of a large number of Garre from Kenya and Somalia, mentioned above, caused increased tensions, as the influx changed the demographic balance in the region, which had serious implications in the new ethnically structured Ethiopia and for the claims for land ownership that the two groups could make.
Conflict behavior ranges from small-scale attacks to large battles. A commonly observed pattern is that individual killings of a small number of people triggers massive inter-communal violence. Furthermore, the fact that the two groups are found in both Ethiopia and Kenya means that there is a constant risk of cross-border spill-over.
Apart from fighting each other separately, the Borana and the Garre have also been involved in a conflict when the Borana fought against a Gabra - Garre alliance (for further information see the Borana - Gabra, Garre conflict ).
The non-state conflict between the Borana and the Garre is first included in UCDP data in 2000. In September of that year a violent clash in Arero town in Borana zone caused the 25 battle-related deaths threshold to be crossed.
