Kenyan Energy Bonanza Fans Violence in Arid Northern Region
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Boru Sora stood in front of a pile of tree trunks and rocks in the middle of the road as he explained why he and other residents of his village in northern Kenya are blocking a key trade route to neighboring Ethiopia.
Sora, the 25-year-old leader of a group of Borana youths, says he’s determined to ensure his kinsmen derive some benefit from the development of infrastructure in the area, such as Africa’s biggest wind-power plant, even if it means breaking the law. Clashes between Borana herders and the crop-growing Burji community killed at least 56 people last year, more than double the number in 2012, according to Marsabit County Police Commissioner Erastus Muthamia.