Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, who visited the scene of the clashes, said the continued fighting over resources between the two groups was threatening peace and security and retarding area development.
"This continued animosity should stop immediately and leaders from the two communities come up with mechanisms of solving their differences without resorting to clashes," Musyoka added.
During the clashes at Rekete village in the location of Tarasaa, 48 people among them 31 women, 11 children and six men were killed.
At least three people were killed and six others injured in the same region last week when Orma pastoralists attacked Pokomo villages.
The Orma cattle had strayed into farmlands owned by Pokomos and in the process destroyed crops. The prompted the Pokomos to attack the Orma herdsmen, killing some of their animals.
The Regional deputy police commander, Joseph Kirur, said security has been beefed up in the area to contained further clashes between the two communities over rights to land and water resources.
While Pokomos accuse the Orma of allowing livestock to encroach on their farms and of destroying their crops, the Orma complains that Pokomo farmlands are too close to the banks of the Tana River and prevent the herders from using the river to water their cattle.
Residents say most of the victims may have been burnt to death as they slept in the houses around 6 a.m. Tuesday.
One of the residents in the area, Said Mgeni, confirmed that the attacks began at 6 a.m. local time (0300 GMT) where a group of about 200 farmers raided a village in Riketa area, near Witu, and torched all houses.
"We are not so sure of the figures, but they are quite high and what we know is that most of the dead are women and children," said Mgeni.
Coast Provincial Commissioner Samuel Kilele said security forces have been deployed in the affected area to quell the situation.
The area, 30Km from Kau, which fell under attack last week, had about 200 houses torched to the ground.
Tension is high in the area and security personnel from both the Kipini and Witu police stations have been deployed.
Lawmaker Dhadho Godana of a neighboring area said if the clashes are not contained, they may spill over elsewhere. Godana said the retaliatory attacks could not be controlled on time, since the area is quite interior.
"We had planned to meet and resolve the issue since that area is prone to conflict and the same may spill over to nearby areas, just like what happened last week in Magarini between the Ormas and Wardei communities, over the same reason of pasture," said Dhado.
The legislator attributed the frequent clashes to an influx of foreigners from Somalia in the area, as well as the fact that residents in the area own illegal arms which they use for their survival.
Mgeni, who is also the chairman of the Garsen Constituency Development Fund, said the clashes began when the farmers got angry over the pastoralists move to graze their cattle in their farms, and they decided to burn their houses.
"We were making arrangements to finance peace campaigns and today we were even supposed to have a last meeting to see what allocations and facilitations will be issued, ahead of the process, but this would now mean that we have to wait," said Mgeni.
He revealed that they had allocated around 3,600 U.S. dollars to the peace committee, and the process was set to kick off.
Last week, senior security officers were at the area to try and quell the tension. There were also reports that one of the Pokomo residents had crossed over to Ngao, across the river, and is suspected to have been killed.
"They have been informed that one of their own is dead, so they are also going to check on it," said Mgeni.
Xinhua-OANA
Editor: Jafar M Sidik
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
