PEACE BUILDING IN BARINGO: SUPPOSING WE TRY THIS? What I am presenting here as my opinion is a long process which is time consuming, tedious and costly but I think it is worth the cost. It is a blend of top-down and bottom up approaches. It is going to deviate from the normal practice where we place the heavy burden of security on the shoulders of chiefs and elders with little results. Normally, the chair persons of peace committees are selected from opinion leaders who are mostly handicap in terms of coordination and resource mobilization and have no power to mobilize various stakeholders. They are also not answerable to anybody because they only volunteer and have no legal binding agreement, hence they can easily sleep on the job. They can also be made ineffective due to their vulnerability to bandits threats since they live among them and have no security In my proposal point of view, the governor, Sub-county Administrators and Ward Administrators will be chairmen of Peace in their respective areas of jurisdiction since they have the resources and are best placed to coordinate the peace building activities owing to their strength in the county and the power they wields among different stakeholders including NGOs, CBOs and government line ministries. This is how I propose It:- 1. Baringo leaders – Governor, Senator, MPs, County Commissioner and MCAs to organize for a three days retreat within the County to bond together and come up with a shared vision for the County. In the retreat they should discuss:- a) Areas of cooperation among constituencies and wards b) Sustainable way of tackling insecurity c) Adopt a common stand on way forward. 2. After convincing themselves that they are united and can speak in one voice, the leaders can organize for a meeting with resourceful professionals from the three communities. In the meeting:- a) They will share their previous proceedings and brainstorm on the thematic areas of concern b) Professionals shall give their views and way forward c) Plenary discussions and adoption of a common stand based on the agreed action points d) Writing of a report on the proceedings. e) Formation of a County Peace Coordinating Unit (CPCU), with a patron, chair person and a secretary My proposal: i. Patron; The Senator ii. Chairman: The governor. iii. Secretary: From professionals 3. The coordinating team (CPCU) will mobilize and invite opinion leaders from the three communities, including the chiefs and their assistance to a meeting. In the meeting: a) They will share the report of CPCU proceedings and brainstorm on the thematic areas of concern. b) Opinion leaders shall give their views and way forward c) Plenary discussions and adoption of a common stand based on the agreed action points d) Editing of the report to include the contributions of the opinion leaders e) Formation of a sub County Peace Coordinating unit (SPCU) with a patron, chair person and a secretary. My proposal: i. Patron; The M.P ii. Chairman: The Sub –County Administrator. iii. Secretary: From plenary (ELECTED) 4. Some members of CPCU and the SPCU will organize community meetings at ward level. In the meeting: a) They will share the report of proceedings on a meeting between CPCU and SPCU then brainstorm on the thematic areas of concern. b) Community shall give their views and way forward c) Plenary discussions and adoption of a common stand based on the agreed action points d) Editing of the report to include the contributions of the community members e) Formation of a Ward Peace coordinating unit (WPCU) with a patron, chair person and a secretary. My proposal: i. Patron; The M.C.A ii. Chairman: The Ward Administrator. iii. Secretary: From plenary (ELECTED) 5 The CPCU will organize for a stakeholder’s forum where they will discuss the report of the various meetings and emerging issues, after which a team is selected to draft the County Peace strategic plan. 6 After completion of County Peace Strategic plan, the CPCU will organize for validation and dissemination meetings at County and ward levels. 7 The CPCU will form a technical working group to look at the County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP) and make recommendations for inclusion of the agreed developmental action points as per the County Peace Strategic Plan. 8 The CPCU shall roll down the implementation of the County Peace Strategic Plan 9 As 2017 approaches, the CPCU shall organize a stakeholder’s forum to chat way forward for power sharing in the county among the three communities through negotiated democracy since tyranny of numbers is a reality in Baringo. IF THIS MAKES SENSE, THEN LET US IMPROVE IT OR COME UP WITH ANOTHER WORKABLE FORMAT
Posted on: Thu, 20 Nov 2014 08:30:00 +0000
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