Destruction of Property, Theft of Land and Livestock
Numerous victims described how their homes were set on fire and livestock, money, and land were taken by the SLDF (Sabaot Land Defense Force) at gunpoint. Sometimes the motive appears to have been theft, sometimes politics, and sometimes settling scores over land disputes. One retired civil servant told Human Rights Watch how he witnessed his neighbors abducted by SLDF and their homes set on fire. The targets were political rivals of the SLDF: “They were singing: the MP (Member of Parliament) is one, the party is one.”
Many people now living in towns further down the mountain are destitute since their land and their livelihood has been taken away. One man, whose land was stolen, explained to Human Rights Watch: “I have the title deed, but the SLDF have guns. Now they have my land. I live in a shack in the town and my family and I eat the tomatoes that fall in the market.”
Since 2006 the Sabaot militia has killed more than 600 people and terrorized the local population through physical assaults and threats, and the seizure and destruction of property.**
Our staff from Mt. Elgon reports that they have been impressed from God's Word “that we should tell every one of God's peace, love, healing and reconciliation.”
Darryl Bowe - Vice President of U.S. Operations for ICM
Darryl has a deep and passionate love for the Sabaot people living on Mount Elgon. He appreciates the opportunities he has to travel to Africa to teach classes and to work with the national staff on administrative and operational issues. He recently returned from Kenya and Mt. Elgon and gave this report.
The drive from Kapsakwony to Kopsiro covered only twelve and a half miles, but took over an hour to complete. For most of the trip I enjoyed the typical scenery of a sunny day on Mt. Elgon. Marching in varied shapes and colors the Sabaot farms rolled up and down the slopes of the branching hills, punctuated by clusters of round mud and wattle buildings, the homes of the Sabaot farmers. There was no outward sign of the violence and destruction that had swept over this portion of Mt. Elgon during 2007.
But the scenery changed dramatically as we turned off the main road onto the smaller road that leads up to Kopsiro. “Over there,” Chrispine Juma, an ICM Kenya staff member, said, pointing to the right. “They burned down the Lutheran Church.” I looked but could see little more than what might have been a foundation. “They were the ones who had the marvelous choir?” I asked Justus Kirui, my other ICM host. As we continued up the road, the two continued to point out where homes had been destroyed or burned. The militia had stolen what they could and then destroyed what they could not carry.
Soon we reached what had been the center of Kopsiro. I closed my eyes and recalled the rows of small wooden shops that had lined both sides of the streets. Though not big by western standards, Kopsiro had provided a center for shopping for the surrounding farmers. Now, all that I could see was the skeletons of some of the buildings and the ruined foundations of others. Kopsiro had become a ghost town. As I looked at the ruins
I could not help but wonder what had happened to the ICM Training Center.
What is left of the ICM center on Mt. Elgon?
Mt. Elgon is Kenya’s second highest mountain, at an altitude of between 8000 and 13800 ft above sea level. It is the oldest and largest solitary volcano in East Africa, covering an area of around 3500 km.
Mt. Elgon is an ancient eroded volcano with a huge caldera and on its summit, a spectacular flat topped basalt column known as Koitobos. Another unique feature is the lava tube cave measuring over 60m wide and frequently visited by elephants in search of salt licks.
The mountain is named after the Elgeyo tribe, who once lived in huge caves on the south side of the mountain. It was known as "Ol Doinyo Ilgoon" (Breast Mountain) by the
Maasai and as "Masaba" on the Ugandan side.
**Kenya: Army and Rebel Militia Commit War Crimes in Mt. Elgon (Human Rights Watch 7-25-2008)
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