SUMMARY
The conflict between the Ajuran and the Garre should be seen on four different, yet interdependent, levels. Firstly, the conflict was about water, grazing rights, and pasture, which are rare resources in the arid region the two groups inhabit. The issue of resources began to be more pressing in the 1990s, when parts of the land were given to private owners and farmers, limiting land-access and resources for the nomadic people. The situation was further aggravated in the early 2000s, due to severe droughts in 1999 and 2000, forcing the Ajuran to leave the Wajir district and to penetrate into the Mandera district of Kenya, at the time inhabited by the Garre. Unlike in other years, the Garre did not approve of this movement, since their own resources were under strong pressure as well.
Secondly, the conflict had a political dimension with the two groups competing over political posts and influence. In the region, area chiefs are of considerable importance, since they can influence and settle disputes between the different groups. In March 2000, the groups disagreed over various appointments, since the Garre claimed two posts in the El Danaba and Irrees T´eeno area (both in the Wajir district) for themselves, which previously were occupied by the Ajuran. As a consequence, the Ajuran started to feel threatened and feared to become marginalized in what they perceived to be an Ajuran-region.
Thirdly, the conflict occurred in the broader context of the conflict-ridden Boran Oromo – Somali relationship. This relationship is characterized by historically shaped animosities and, more recent, a religious dimension with the Somali stressing their Muslim identity and partly using jihad rhetoric. Many smaller groups, such as the Ajuran and the Garre, used the Boran Oromo – Somali division strategically according to their own situational needs by stressing their affiliation to the two overarching groups more or less. The Ajuran even managed to switch sides twice, the first time around 1990 and the second time in the late 1990s. Around 2000, the Ajuran had just reverted back into the Boran Oromo alliance, while the Garre started to stress their Somali identity more.
Fourthly, there is an international dimension to the conflict. While both groups mainly live in Kenya, they have strong ties across the border into Ethiopia and Somalia, where smaller sections of the groups reside. Fighting between them is influenced by and influences the inter-state relations between those three countries. Generally, Kenya and Ethiopia fear that instability from Somalia might negatively affect the stability in their own countries. In addition, there is considerable cross-border trade and economic exchange, mainly between Kenya and Ethiopia; but also animosities and fear of potential hegemonic aspirations of the other. In the conflict between theAjuran and the Garre, the former spread, through different channels, the rumor that Ethiopian soldiers attacked civilians on Kenyan soil in support of the Garre. Those allegations were strongly rejected by Ethiopia, but even so, negatively influenced the Kenya-Ethiopian relations.
The non-state conflict between the Ajuran and the Garre was first included in UCDP data in 2000. In July of that year fighting between the two groups led to more than 25 battle-related deaths.
