Community-Based Peace Agreements: Co-existence of Centering and Peripherying Narratives on the Mokoyweet Tree in Post-Conflict Mt. Elgon, Kenya

Francis Onditi, University of Johannesburg (Kenya)

This paper explores how competing community narratives in Mt. Elgon, Kenya, construct the Mokoyweet tree (Ficus natalensis) as both a source of tension and a symbol of peace. It examines how local peacebuilders navigate complex power relations between dominant and resistant voices in environmental peace processes. The analysis positions the Mokoyweet tree as an intermediary object mediating “centering” and “periphering” narratives, revealing how their coexistence can paradoxically sustain peace. By conceptualizing this interaction as a “meshwork-like network” of dialectical actors, the study contributes to understanding the political ecology of difference within community-based peace agreements. It highlights how cultural and ecological symbols can facilitate cooperation amid diversity, demonstrating that environmental peacebuilding at the community level can be both pluralistic and durable.