Map of the Diocese
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The Diocese of Lodwar is located in the remote northwestern part of Kenya, in an arid, semi- desert territory known for its cyclical droughts and famines, bordering Uganda (Moroto and Kotido Dioceses), Southern Sudan (Torit Diocese) and Ethiopia (Jimma-Bonga and Sodo Vicariates). In the south it borders three dioceses in Kenya (Kitale, Nakuru, Maralal) and in the west with Lake Turkana and the Kenyan Diocese of Marsabit.
The territory of the Diocese corresponds to the territory of the Turkana County, with its own regional administration. It covers 77,000 square kilometres and a population of 926,976.
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History of Turkana region
The original nomadic communities, as history indicates, arrived in this area in the early decades of the eighteenth century. Turkana people are of Nilotic origin and probably lived originally on the eastern highlands of Uganda, where they have close links and are considered part of the ethnic “Karamajong cluster”, which include the Karamoja from Uganda, the Toposafrom Southern Sudan and the Nyangatom from Southern Sudan and Ethiopia. Animosity and cattle rustling among these groups has been a practice that has brought insecurity in the border areas. Under British rule, Turkana was cut off from outside contact until nearly the independence of Kenya when the territory was open to missionaries.
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Due to the fact that the land is ranges from arid to semi-arid in most parts, about 60% of the inhabitants are considered nomadic pastoralists. Pastoralists live from their animals, camels, goats, sheep, and donkeys and, in some areas, cows. Around 14% of the population, those near the lake are of late agriculture. The Turkana Community is homogeneous in relation to ethnic group and language.
Cattle rustling and open animosity among the tribes in all its borders has been a traditional feature of the Turkana. In the recent years these practices have dangerously derived into terrorist-like violence and insecurity because of the presence of light arms.
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