South African troops move into Angola to occupy and defend the Ruacana hydropower complex, including the Gove Dam on the Kunene River. Goal is to take possession of and defend the water resources of southwestern Africa and Namibia.
Cuban and Angolan forces launch an attack on Calueque Dam via land and then air. Considerable damage inflicted on dam wall; power supply to dam cut. Water pipeline to Ovamboland cut and destroyed.
Continued sectarian violence in the Central African Republic between Muslim and Christian militias includes reports of Muslim civilians being killed and their bodies thrown down water wells.
Violence between farmers and pastoralists expands in Tanzania’s southeastern Rufiji valley, a region hit by drought. A farmer is killed in a conflict with a herdsman over access to water in the southern regions of Lindi and Mtwara. Five more people die and many more are injured in subsequent violence. According to local sources, violence has worsened during the prolonged drought.
Conflicts over water are increasing in the Pangani River Basin in northeastern Tanzania between farmers and herders over dwindling water resources. In 2011 in Mbuguni village, four farmers are hacked to death by angry Maasai morans (warriors) as they tried to stop a group of cattle from trampling on maize seedlings.
Conflicts over water continue in Tanzania between farmers and herders over dwindling water resources. In 2013, herders attempt to take over the central water source in the village of Makenya.
One person is killed and several police officers are injured in a fight over access to water resources between herders and farmers near the village of Dihida, Morogoro, Tanzania.
Fighting between Borana herders and the crop-growing Burji community kills at least 56 people in 2013. The violence is rooted in historic clan rivalries as well as competition for water and pasture in the arid region. Clashes between the two communities date back to the 1960s and are related to disputes over the use of political power to take control of water and fertile land.
Al-Shabaab militants destroy an important water well that had been drilled by the Kenyan army in the town of Lafey, Mandera County, leaving hundreds of residents without water.
Clashes continue between pastoralists and farmers over access to water and grazing lands in the face of severe drought. Water shortages have forced the herders to move to farmers’ land for grazing, leading to clashes.