Guns and Governance in the Rift Valley: Pastoralist Conflict and Small Arms (review)

The proliferation and misuse of small arms and light weapons (SALW) contribute to the escalation of violence in sub-Saharan Africa. Guns and Governance in the Rift Valley shows how this proliferation fuels deadly violence among pastoral communities in the Rift Valley region of northwestern Kenya and in northeastern Uganda. Relying on data from public health clinics in Uganda and Kenya as well as police records from Kenya, Mkutu traces and explains the rise in pastoral violence. His main argument is that pastoralists are under threat from such factors as inadequate policing, pressures on land and water supplies, and increasing insecurity from the proliferation of small arms. Chapter 1 defines key concepts raised in the book. It also explains why Africa has experienced more armed conflicts than any other continent since the end of the Cold War and offers an interesting background on the pastoral communities studied.

Chapters 2–4 are very fascinating. These chapters focus on pastoral life and the proliferation of SALW and their impact on pastoral communities. The arid and semi-arid areas of the Horn of Africa contain the largest grouping of pastoralists in the world. Cattle ownership forms the bulk of social interaction in these communities. The pressures over access to grassland and water sources have made crossing into other pastoral territories risky. Mkutu also offers an intriguing explanation for cattle rustling, which forms the basis of pastoralist culture. Pastoralist lives are ordered in relation to livestock and the land around which they live. All the ethnic groups in the region own large herds of cattle as their most treasured possessions and do not hesitate to defend their stock. There is high social prestige and prominence attached to cattle possession. No wonder cattle raiding takes place to serve various purposes, including "restocking after drought or disease, obtaining cattle for bride wealth, demonstrating the bravery of new warriors, and initiating boys into manhood" (17). The new weaponry (SALW), as opposed to the traditional spear and arrow, has led to increasing conflicts and made raiding an attractive commercial venture. Cattle rustling now draws on small arms readily available to the pastoralists. The inability to control the influx of small arms continues to create security concerns. Mkutu aptly explains how the proliferation of arms contributes to violence and why previously law-abiding citizens of the Valley resort to arms in settling minor disputes. The conflicts in neighboring Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia, and Uganda contribute to the proliferation of weapons in the Rift Valley. The insecurity in the region contributes to the emergence of vigilante groups and autonomous security forces, further plunging pastoralists into anarchy. Small arms have become a "necessity for ensuring access to resources and human security in the absence of state authority" (149).

In an attempt to drive home his point, however, Mkutu burdens his readers with narrative details, repeating the same material in slightly different ways throughout. The later chapters reveal details that would have been helpful if they had been placed up front. Without doubt, the author has succeeded in making a valuable contribution toward understanding the nature of pastoral life in the Rift Valley. He must be commended for addressing vexing issues and for the risk he endured in conducting the research. Like the author's other publications, this book will be extremely useful to policymakers, researchers, and NGOs working on SALW.