It is often called Loki. It is about 30 kilometers from the
international border with South Sudan and is host to UN offices (part of
the Operation Lifeline Sudan program), around 49 NGOs, and a large
hospital run by the ICRC.
Local peoples are mainly nomads of the
Turkana tribe and derive their livelihood by looking after indigenous
cattle. Ninety kilometers south of Loki is Kakuma, one of the largest
refugee camps in Kenya. Refugees from Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, the DRC,
and several other surrounding countries can be found in Kakuma.
Loki
is the outermost Kenyan town on the border with Sudan. Kenyans from the
southern part of Loki, however, maintain that Lodwar is the last truly
"Kenyan" town in the region, about 200 kilometers south. At the north
end of Loki, beyond the noted dry river bed, the Kenyan military has set
up a border checkpoint. This is considered the "true" border between
Kenya and Sudan. Beyond this point lies a road leading to Nadapal, the
Sudanese checkpoint which is about thirty kilometers away. The area
known as "no-man's land" is situated between these two checkpoints.
The
Middle East Reformed Fellowship maintains a base here to administer
diaconal aid to Sudan, a training centre for pastors and elders from
Sudan, Kenya, and surrounding areas, and a broadcasting centre that
prepares messages in the Dinka and Nuer languages
