The Borana have, over the last few years, become better armed because of the spill-over of weapons on the Ethiopia border. Proliferation of small arms has increased incidents of banditry in the NEP, as well as affecting the delicate balance between pastoralist communities. New alliances have developed in the Northern communities, principally between the Gabbra and the Borana. These shifting alliances draw on support from heavily-armed kin in neighbouring Somalia and Ethiopia, local leaders say. Rumours are already circulating in Wajir town that the Degodia have sent men to neighbouring Somalia to buy guns and get help from related Somali clans.
Local residents say automatic guns are readily available at affordable prices.
Gun control in the NEP, where security personnel are killed every year, is a difficult issue for the Kenyan government. Foreign Minister Bonaya Godana says small arms have proliferated dramatically in the area because of collapsing governments and civil wars in Uganda, Ethiopia, Somalia and the Great Lakes region. Although more political freedoms came after the lifting of the state of emergency and the introduction of multi-party politics, NEP remains comparatively closed and inaccessible as a region. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources.