TURKANA – For Turkana pastoralists, the search for water and grazing land is turning an international boundary into a daily test of survival, diplomacy, and shared Ateker identity. Capturing the delicate reality facing communities along the Kenya-Uganda border, Turkana West MP and Chairman of the Turkana MPs Caucus, Daniel Epuyo Nanok, emphasized that leadership must nurture cross-border connections to ensure pastoralists can trade freely and live with dignity. Yet for the families driving herds across dusty terrain, the question is much simpler and immediate: is there enough water and grass to keep their animals alive?
Between August 30 and September 2, 2026, Epuyo and Turkana North MP Ekwom Nabuin traveled into Uganda’s Kaabong District to visit Turkana pastoralists in temporary livestock camps (kraals) across Usake, Morungole, Timu, and Kamion. The mission aimed to strengthen peace and cooperation at a time when hundreds of families from Turkana West and North have migrated across the border. While national boundaries exist on paper, the pastoral economy has never recognized them; when water pans dry up and grazing disappears, herds move to survive. As the United Nations notes regarding the broader Karamoja Cluster—which spans Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, and South Sudan—mobility is a vital livelihood strategy where grass and water mean life itself.
In Kaabong, the Usake Valley Dam has become a major anchor in this drought-stricken landscape. Constructed by Uganda’s Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries, the 670,000-cubic-meter dam benefits an estimated 198,500 people. While the ministry acknowledges that pastoralists rely on mobility across borders, it cautions that dense concentrations of livestock around a single water source alter pasture dynamics and heighten the risk of local conflict. For a pastoral family, migration carries immense pressure: livestock represents household wealth, food security, dowry, and social status. Staying behind during severe droughts such as those in 2017 and 2021 that drove thousands of Kenyans into Uganda means risking total loss of the herd.
To prevent survival migration from sparking violence, the Kenyan delegation focused on negotiating temporary, regulated access to grazing lands while stressing respect for Ugandan laws and host communities. The trip included a visit to the Kamion Immigration Office, highlighting how traditional pastoral movements now intersect with modern administrative and national security systems. A pivotal moment of the mission was the peaceful handover of six stolen cattle to Uganda’s Ngidoso community. Though small against the thousands of cattle in the region, the gesture served as a meaningful act of goodwill, trust-building, and conflict resolution between the culturally intertwined Turkana and Dodoth peoples. As Ugandan leader Akiki John Robert Aduba observed, water and grass bring the communities together, making peaceful management the primary goal.
The three-day exercise brought together a comprehensive network of stakeholders, including Kenyan and Ugandan local administrators, security officials, peace actors, and community elders. Key participants included Turkana County Director of Peace Titus Lokorikeju, Lokichogio Deputy County Commissioner Paul Kipsigei Kemei, Sub-County Administrator Echip Obed, and peace organizations like the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) and LOKADO the latter led by Executive Director Augustine Kai Lopie under the Karamoja Strong program. Their collective presence reflected a broad consensus that no single entity can address the overlapping challenges of immigration, security, animal health, and resource sharing.
Looking forward, leaders point to platforms like the Ateker Council to institutionalize long-term cooperation, trade, and peace across borders. However, the mission also highlighted the urgent need for infrastructure investments back home in Kenya. The proposed Tarach Dam project in Turkana West a planned 4-million-cubic-meter reservoir meant to supply up to 300,000 people and irrigate 150 hectares around Kakuma and Kalobeyei—represents a sustainable effort to bring reliable water directly to the community. While domestic infrastructure will not end pastoral mobility entirely, bringing water closer to home reduces the need for emergency migrations, ensuring that when herds do move, the journey leads to shared survival rather than conflict.
