By H, KNA
Wajir County has stepped up efforts to institutionalize peace and conflict management following the enactment of regulations to operationalize the Wajir County Peace building and Conflict Management Act of 2024.
The regulations were discussed this week during a forum convened by the Wajir Peace and Development Agency (WPDA) in partnership with the county government and Deris Wanaag, bringing together county officials, peace actors, and civil society organisations.
Director of Peace Building and Community Cohesion, Mr. Adan Abdi Ahmed, said the regulations were critical to translating the act into practice by formalizing peace structures from the grassroots to the county level.
“The objective of the act was to put in place peacebuilding and conflict management infrastructure right from the grassroots to the county level. These regulations will now formalize the nitty-gritties of the act,” said Mr. Adan.
He noted that the regulations will also address coordination with neighbouring counties—Isiolo, Garissa, Mandera, and Marsabit—as well as cross-border engagements with Somalia and Ethiopia.
“Since the act is silent on how we conduct ourselves with our neighbours, the regulations will provide a platform to address these grey areas,” he added.
Veteran peace champion Mr. Abdi Billow said the forum was convened to validate the draft regulations, which are intended to strengthen implementation of the county peace act assented to on July 8, 2024.
“We are here to validate county peacebuilding and conflict management regulations that will boost the County Peace Act of 2024,” said Mr. Billow.
He explained that the regulations clarify key areas such as the code of conduct for peace committees, as well as criteria for nomination, selection, and election of committee members.
“In the next few days, the document will be forwarded to the cabinet for validation, and then to the County Assembly Peace Committee for approval before it is put into practical use,” he said.
The act establishes a framework for peacebuilding across Wajir County, including structures such as the FCDC Peace Summit and County Peace Committees, and aims to mobilise resources, coordinate stakeholders, and support peace initiatives at county, regional, and national levels.
WPDA representative Mr. Abdinassir Saman said the forum marked the culmination of a decade-long process to develop a comprehensive peace framework for the county.
“We started the first draft of the peace policy in 2015. It has gone through many stages, and now, with the support of Deris Wanaag, we are able to finalize it as an act,” said Mr. Saman.
He emphasised that regulations are necessary to make the structures created under the act fully functional.
“We need regulations to operationalize these structures. It has taken days of hard work to develop a document that will resonate well with the people of Wajir,” he said.
Mr. Saman noted that Wajir’s security challenges are largely linked to competition over resources, particularly during droughts, due to its location along international and inter-county migration routes.
“Our main conflicts arise from resource pressures when communities move in search of water and pasture. Internally, communities in Wajir largely coexist peacefully,” he said.
Prominent peace actor Ms. Halima Bochola said the regulations will ease implementation for peace actors and stakeholders across the county.
“We never had regulations for the act before. This time, implementation will be much easier,” she said.
Once validated by the county cabinet and approved by the County Assembly Peace Committee, the regulations will serve as the official operational guide for peacebuilding and conflict management structures in Wajir County.
