#10Morans – The Journey From Cattle Rustler to Peace Ambassador

A wanted ringleader of a cattle-rustling ring, and an outspoken voice of anti-conservation – Erupe Lobun is the first to admit his transformation to preacher and peace ambassador is the stuff of fiction.

2011 was the year Lobun changed his life. He’d spent 10 years on the run from authorities, as well as communities and herders who blamed him for stolen livestock. One of his close friends, a fellow cattle-raider, had just been killed in a botched stock theft. He was mourning, and he was tired of running. 

Trying to find a way out, Lobun turned to religion.  At the same time, the communities in his area were coming together to form Nakuprat-Gotu Community Conservany, an alliance between the Borana and Turkana ethnic groups who wanted to put years of conflict behind them. Lobun had previously been outspoken against this alliance, and its link to conservation. After all, conservation and cattle surely couldn’t go hand in hand? 

His newfound dedication to religion gave Lobun the space to think and reflect. The death of his friend had affected him profoundly, and he started to wonder if the peace programmes his community conservancy was spearheading might indeed be worth becoming a part of. He started to talk to his former peers about non-violent conflict resolution, and ways out of cattle rustling. In those early days, Lobun says he received death threats for trying to persuade cattle-rustlers to turn their lives around, and for tipping off authorities. 

“The threats didn’t scare me,” he says, “I just wanted us to have peace.”

Lobun is now a preacher, and uses his position to promote peace and unity between the Turkana, Samburu, Borana and Somali communities in his area.

“My life changed after quitting cattle rustling, I can now walk freely,” he says. 

When Lobun found out that the NRT Peace Team were recruiting peace ambassadors, he didn’t think twice before volunteering. Now in his spare time, Lobun travels around conservancies supporting dialogue sessions between warring groups, and telling his story to inspire others. 

“I hope my story can influence other herders to coexist and share the limited resources amicably,” he says.