Police in Kenya fear that a recent wave of cattle rustling is fanning the tribal animosity that boiled over this year into ethnic killings.

This week 25 people have died in cattle raids in the Rift Valley, the scene of the worst violence after flawed elections in December.

The country’s political leaders have signed a power-sharing deal handing Raila Odinga, the opposition leader, the post of Prime Minister. But that still leaves festering sores where old grievances pit tribe against tribe in poverty-stricken rural areas.

François Grignon, African director of the International Crisis Group, said that political progress had not been matched with disarmament or peace programmes outside the capital.

“What we are seeing is the same conflict continuing in areas like the Rift Valley. A month after peace was signed, we have had more than 100 casualties,” he said. “It may be called cattle rustling but it’s the same thing and a manifestation of the collapse of state authority and its ability to resolve disputes in the area.”

Cattle raids are common in some border regions of Kenya, where herding animals is the main source of income. Recent droughts have increased pressure on pastureland, making cross-border raids by Ethiopian and Somali militias a fact of life for Kenyan pastoralists. In the latest incident police said that 12 people had died in Baringo district, when more than 200 raiders, from either Turkana or Samburu tribes, stole more than 200 animals. The victims included seven members of the same family.

“Police will make sure law and order is restored in some of these affected areas. We will stop at nothing,” Eric Kiraithe, a police spokesman, said.

Rustling has ancient roots among pastoralist tribes. It swells herd size and gives young warriors a chance to prove themselves by attacking rivals or defending their own people. Once they would have used bows and arrows but AK47s are increasingly common. Noah Wekesa, the Minister for Science and Technology, whose constituency has been affected, said armed gangs were intent on reclaiming land.

“Don’t call it cattle rustling. It is not. These people are out to evict [other communities],” he said.

In the region around Mount Elgon a militia known as the Sabaot Land Defence Force has been fighting the Government over land claims. It has been accused of killing 500 people during the past 18 months and is being pursued by troops backed by helicopters.

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