Unveiling Women as Pillars of Peace Peace Building in ...

Education campaigns targeting the various groups, particularly government officials were
organised within the framework of the DDC. Each workshop identified the next target group
depending on whom the participant viewed as requiring exposure to civic education. Chiefs and
sub-chiefs with leadership training were among the beneficiaries of these workshops. Their
training focussed particularly on the repealed Chief’s Act and the exercise of authority within a
multiparty framework. These helped them appreciate the changing political landscape and the
need to deal with the expanding political arena. Other groups of civil servants exposed to the civic
and peace education include the police, military personnel and administrative officers, particularly
the District Officers. In all these cases, government officers attained a better understanding of the
challenges facing Wajir District. Given the high turnover of civil servants, these workshops are
organised regularly. 3
Exporting Peace
Between 1993 and 1997, peace activities were based in Wajir District only. However,
being a neighbour to trouble-ridden districts of Garissa, Isiolo, Mandera and Marsabit, meant that
conflicts in these districts had the potential of spilling over into Wajir. The massacre at Bagalla
had brought this lesson home. Besides, owing to the social clan structure, communities in Wajir
have relations in these districts and beyond the borders of Kenya. For peace to be sustainable in
Wajir, therefore, required peaceful coexistence with communities in neighbouring districts. This
reality became a basis for nurturing an inter-district understanding and peaceful coexistence.
In November 1998, a regional workshop brought the Districts of North Eastern, Eastern,
and Nairobi together. The delegates attending this meeting agreed that peace workers in Wajir
should network with representatives from these districts. A Regional Peace Co-ordinator was
appointed to act as a liaison between Wajir, neighbouring districts, and national peace workers.
Women for Peace organised the next regional workshop scheduled for Wajir in December 1999.
This workshop aimed at bringing women from these districts together and seeking ways of
extending their influence in peace making.
Instruments of Peace
No single factor can account for the success of women and the entire peace movement in
Wajir. A combination of factors has contributed to the creation of sustainable peace that is being
exported to the outlying districts.
The Right Moment
The idea of working for peace in Wajir occurred at the right moment. The society had been
nearly destroyed after continuously experiencing conflict and wanton destruction. By 1993,
insecurity rated very high for both civilian populations and the administrators. Everyone lived in
fear with the acute knowledge that they could become victims at any moment. This virtual “state of
nature” translated into a desperate desire for peace. At any other time, no one would have listened
to the women, but the prevailing state of fear and insecurity caught their attention, and their
message for peace brought some glimmer of hope to all. Resistance and prejudices faced by
women and youths in the initial stages of the peace campaigns quickly transformed into support. It
is this right moment that explains the momentum of Wajir peace processes. Once set off, its
membership grew like a bush fire, spreading to all sectors of the community.
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