Kenya signs Igad protocol on free movement of pastoralists in Eastern Africa
Friday June 07 2024
A pastoralist from the Chalbi Desert in Northern Kenya with his camels at Maikona, a small village near the Marsabit National Reserve in northern Kenya on October 12,2019. PHOTO | FILE | NMG
Kenya on Friday signed a protocol of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) on the free movement of pastoralists living in border areas in search of pastures for their livestock.
Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Musalia Mudavadi signed the Igad Protocol on Transhumance, which provides a critical framework for free, safe, and orderly cross-border mobility of transhumant livestock and herders in search of water and pasture within the eight Igad member states.
"This will help in promoting peaceful coexistence, reduce the risks associated with violence, lead to the protection of the rights and interests of pastoralist communities, including their access to land, water, and grazing resources, and further cooperation and coordination among neighboring countries in addressing common challenges across borders," Mudavadi said in a statement issued in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.
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The protocol regulates transhumance activities, including the movement of herders and their livestock across borders; sustainable management of natural resources, including land, water, and pasture to support transhumance activities; conflict prevention, mitigation, and resolution.
The protocol was adopted during the 72nd Extra-Ordinary Session of the Igad Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs on June 24, 2021, and Kenya became the fifth Igad member state to sign it, after Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, and Djibouti.
The three other Igad members are Eritrea, Somalia, and Uganda.
The protocol will be submitted to the Cabinet and thereafter to the National Assembly for approval of ratification by Kenya.