The Mount Elgon insurgency was a conflict that started in 2005 when the

Sabaot Land Defence Force The Sabaot Land Defence Force (SLDF) was a guerrilla militia operating in the Mount Elgon District of Kenya since 2005. It has been accused of killing more than 600 people, and of committing a variety of atrocities including murder, torture, rap ...

militia revolted in the

Mount Elgon Mount Elgon is an extinct shield volcano on the border of Uganda and Kenya, north of Kisumu and west of Kitale. The mountain's highest point, named "Wagagai", is located entirely within Uganda.

area, Western

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

Background

In the 1920s and the 1930s,

British Kenya British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

had displaced many native Sabaots in the modern-day

Trans-Nzoia County Trans-Nzoia County is a county in the former Rift Valley Province, Kenya, located between the Nzoia River and Mount Elgon, 380 km northwest of Nairobi. At its centre is the town of Kitale which is the capital and largest town. The count ...

. Most of their arable lands were given to new settlers, who became farmers in the area. The

Kenyan Government , image = , caption = Coat of arms of Kenya , date = 1963 , jurisdiction = Republic of Kenya , url = http://www.mygov.go.ke/ , legislature = Parliament of Kenya , meeting_place = ...

gave later in the 1960s a amount of land to landless families after its independence in 1963 from the UK. The SLDF was formed in 2005 to resist government eviction of squatters in Mount Elgon District. There were claims of corruption and land grabbing in the settlement process and it was viewed as an outfit formed and equipped by local politicians to prevent the resettlement process. The group would claim nationwide notoriety in the months leading to the December 2007 election when militia members launched a terror campaign targeting opponents of the Orange Democratic Movement which was the main opposition party at the time.

Operation Okoa Maisha

The Kenyan government at first did not take the activities of the

seriously and chose to initially deploy police and paramilitary units to

Mount Elgon District Mount Elgon District (Mt. Elgon District) was an administrative district in the Western Province of Kenya. Its capital town was Kapsokwony. In 2010, it was merged into Bungoma County. Geography and demographics The district was located on southea ...

. It was only after violence persisted with increasing casualties inflicted on civilians and security forces did the government come to the realization that the group had morphed from a criminal group to a rebel outfit. A large scale military operation by the Kenya Army dubbed 'Operation Okoa Maisha' (Operation Save Lives) was launched in March 2008 with it being the first deployment of Kenya's nascent special forces units drawn from the 20th Parachute Battalion along with regular infantry units. The SLDF who had enjoyed freedom of movement particularly at night quickly retreated to the forests. The operation was bedeviled with gross human rights violations by both sides with civilians caught in the middle. Civilians reported arbitrary detentions and torture of young males from the Sabaot community by the army. The SLDF was notorious for its level of violence meted out on the civilian populace with the cutting off of ears being a well known tactic. The military operation led to intense fighting in the forests and caves around Mount Elgon notably at night but within a month the fighting had taken its toll on the rebels. On 16 May 2008 the leader of SLDF Wycliffe Matakwei was cornered along with a band of fighters and eventually killed in the assault by army units. His death and those of two other commanders marked the start of a rapid de-escalation of fighting with numerous rebels choosing to surrender marking a decisive victory for the Kenyan military.

Arrests and charges

Reportedly, local church elders knew of 200 people who have gone missing since being arrested; about 1,500 have been formally charged. The Kenyan military has been criticized for the manner in which the operation was conducted particularly in the Chebyuk settlement area with dozens of people arrested allegedly having been executed with many more missing. The SLDF abducted many children who remain unaccounted for with many of the young men forcibly recruited being killed in fighting during the operation.

References

External links

“All the Men Have Gone”: War Crimes in Kenya’s Mt. Elgon Conflict
(

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

)
Kenya: Army and Rebel Militia Commit War Crimes in Mt. Elgon
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Mount Elgon, Kenya: A terrorised population in desperate need of assistance
(MSF) {{DEFAULTSORT:Mount Elgon Insurgency Mount Elgon District Bungoma County Wars involving Kenya 2005 in Kenya 2006 in Kenya 2007 in Kenya 2008 in Kenya History of Kenya Conflicts in 2005 Conflicts in 2006 Conflicts in 2007 Conflicts in 2008 Wars involving the states and peoples of Africa