In October 1993, violence erupts in the Narok district of Kenya’s Rift Valley province. Maasai warriors attack immigrant Kikuyu settlers and massacre at least 17 of them, after Kikuyi settlers allegedly mutilated Maasai cattle. 16 more Kikuyus are killed in other parts of Narok and the rest of the Kikuyu population is forced out of the area and into refugee camps. Environmental concerns played a central role: a few months previously, the Narok County Council had declared Enosupukia, the site of the conflict, to be a water catchment area and decreed that all inhabitants, mostly transplanted Kikuyus, had to leave.
