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Post by job on Dec 7, 2010 20:02:15 GMT 3
This copy-and-pasted East African Standard article published yesterday ( December 6th, 2010), caught my attention: The Government has vowed to continue with the resettlement of internally displaced persons at Rose Farm in Mau Narok despite residents’ opposition.
Rift Valley PC Osman Warfa said the State had already resettled 1,500 people on the 2,240-acre piece of land it bought from a Mr Stephen Rose.
He said it was wrong for people to think the IDPs were from one community and, therefore, try to disrupt the resettlement.
"People living in camps come from across the country and we are not settling people in terms of tribe, but in terms of need," he stated.
Leaders from the Maasai community have been opposing the resettlement of the IDPs on the land, arguing the land is subject to a suit they have filed in court over land injustices committed against them by the colonial government and the late President Jomo Kenyatta’s regime.
Land had no row
The community leaders led by Cabinet minister William ole Ntimama have linked the killing of land rights activist Moses ole Mpoe to the crusade for the return of land taken away by colonialists.
But the Government yesterday cleared the air that the land they acquired was not in dispute.
"The land was bought from Stephen Rose and it had exchanged hands three times before and there is no way the Government would have bought land that had any row," said Warfa.
The PC said they would proceed to resettle the next group of about 4,000 IDPs on the land.
The Government bought the land to resettle the IDPs from a prominent wheat farmer last month, sparking a standoff with the local community that claims the land was fraudulently taken away from them in the 1970s This to me, sounds more like coerced and forced settlement of IDPs into a hostile host community. It must be quite scary for the IDPs.A past article by the same East African Standard previously detailed a violent clash between Maasai herdsmen and a German wheat farmer called Mr. Stephen Rose, over rights to the same piece of land the IDPs are now being settled in. excerpt: A farmer in Olkurto Division of Narok District clashed with a group of herdsmen who had invaded his wheat fields.
Mr Stephen Rose took out his short gun in a bid to scare away the morans, who turned violent after he confronted them at his 1,500-acre ranch.
He claimed that one of the morans threatened to slash him with a sword after they defied orders to drive away their livestock.
Maasai herders claim the land as rightfully belonging to them but illegally occupied since 1970 by the German, courtesy of fraudulent transactions facilitated by the powerful former Minister of State in the Office of the President during the Kenyatta administration,the late Mbiyu Koinange. Reading both articles, one can't fail to notice: - government defiance and indifference to indigenous land claims - derogatory insinuations like "Maasai herders"...'invading his farm' etc In my view, when land ownership is in dispute, journalists ought to be careful not to assign biased and arbitrary ownernship based on common assumptions. When it comes to addressing the real Agenda 4 items that hold key to Kenya's future stability, most people conveniently bury their heads in sand or turn the other way.People need to start asking and addressing the real issues that might potentially cause future turmoil. Kenya obviously has a good share of internally displaced persons (refugees in their own country) for the very reason that past injustices over land expropriation have remained unaddressed. With the recent history of PEV, it is important for the government to ensure safety of IDPs being resettled while simultaneously ensuring peaceful coexistence within the new host communities. Has the government extensively deliberated upon the important question below? Where should IDPs be resettled? Should IDPs be ‘dumped’ into hostile host communities fraught with their own share of claims on ancestral land injustices? As we embark upon the crucial task of implementing the new constitution (containing proposals for land reforms), let us also not lose sight of the reality that the two principals presented to us, a scion of a major beneficiary of land-grabbing - Mr Charles Nyachae - as the nominee for the Chairmanship of the crucial Constitution Implementation Commission.This government may be forced sooner or later to acceptthe reality that it istaking lightly certain fundamental concepts that need to change. The government must be courageous enough to answer the politically-vexing question of whether Indigenous communities such as Maasai and Kalenjin have rights to certain parcels of ancestral lands previously expropriated by colonialists. The government must answer that important question in the sensitive context of its current policy on IDP resettlement. Is it responsible and prudent for the Lands and Special Programme Ministries to translocate IDPs expelled from Eldoret, Uasin Gishu, Nakuru and Kericho (claimed by indigeous Kalenjin), only to settle them in another hotspot fraught with claims of indigenous land ownership by Maasai (Mau Narok)? Kindly share your sensible, mature and sober thoughts. This is JUKWAA! |
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Post by job on Dec 7, 2010 20:12:18 GMT 3
DEADLY IMPUNITY BY LAND ARISTOCRATSThe December 3 cold-blood execution of Maasai land rights activist Mr. Moses Lesiamon Ole Mpoe in Njoro, by gunmen on motorcycle, has definitely raised security tension in Nakuru and Narok Counties. The late Moses Leshiamon Ole Mpoe -
assassinated by Kenya's Land OligarchsIt is looking very likely from the Daily Nation account (below) that: allafrica.com/stories/201012070130.html1) Ole Mpoe was assassinated partly for his agitation for return of Maasai ancestral lands previously expropriated by the colonial government, then later held-on-to by Kenyatta allies.2) Ole Mpoe was also assassinated for opposing the resettlement of IDPs in part of these lands in question – specifically the 2,400 acres farm the government bought from Mr. Rose. 3) Ole Mpoe was assassinated for filing a suit at the High Court in Nairobi, claiming ownership of the same land in question. 4) Ole Mpoe was assassinated for mobilizing the Maasai into protest demonstrations against the government's move. 5) Ole Mpoe knew that conservative sections of government, an MP (possibly Molo MP, Joseph Kiuna), local police, Provincial Administration, and some members of the Koinange family in whose farm he worked, were all his sworn enemies. Mpoe recently recorded a statement to police fearing for his life. 6) In short, Kenya’s ruthless land-grabbing aristocracy is responsible for the murder of Ole Mpoe.7) The government has deployed armies of GSU and APs ready to crush and suppress protests over this murder, a security operation coordinated by Njoro DC Jim Njoka and Narok North DC Godfrey Kigochi.
It is becoming clearer each day why State House and conservative elements in government (the land aristocracy) is hanging onto the Provincial Administration parallel to the new constitutionally created devolution structures - precisely to guard their land loot from peasants (in colonial and apartheid fashion). 8) In swift and defensive fashion, the Rift Valley PC has falsely dismissed Ole Mpoe’s claims of land disputes over the pieces IDPs are now being resettled in. 9) The Mbiyu Koinange family, on whose 4,000 acre farm Ole Mpoe worked, are on record for being divided over ownership of the family farm, with a section led by Mbiyu’s son, George Kihara Koinange, offering to sell it to a politician (possibly Molo MP,Joseph Kiuna), while the rest of the family moving to court to block the sale. 10) George Kihara Koinange recently fired Ole Mpoe from the farm while his siblings reinstated the latter. 11) While George Kihara Koinange was recently attempting to introduce new management to the farm, he was purportedly assaulted. Whether it was a real attack or stage-managed theatrics, is unknown. Shortly after, Ole Mpoe has been murdered. 12) Any logical investigations into Ole Mpoe’s assassination must involve the interrogation of members of the Koinange family, the MP with interest in buying the Koinange farm, and elements in government jittery at Mpoe’s land activism, starting with the local Provincial Administration and Security teams.13) Human Rights activists must wakeup from their slumber and not only fight to unearth Ole Mpoe’s killers, but also continue to pursue his unfulfilled and justified dream - land rights for marginalized communities.
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Post by job on Dec 7, 2010 20:12:42 GMT 3
BackgroundThe exit of the colonial government in 1963 did not bring a return of annexed indigenous lands to its original owners. Since the 1960s the Maasai for instance, have had to contend with neo-colonial occupation of their land by wealthy Kenyan families who were given access and title deeds, by the governments of Kenyatta, Moi and Kibaki. According to the Kenya Land Alliance, these land aristocrats now own more than 65% of all arable land in Kenya. In the lush Mau-Narok area, several politically connected individuals irregularly grabbed many acres. The common denominator in these land acquisitions was how one was proximally connected to a sitting President. Under Kenyatta, hundreds of thousands of acres were dubiously transferred into the hands of members of his thieving Kiambu aristocracy. The same trend continued during the subsequent regimes of both Moi and Kibaki. This is how individuals like the former Auditor General in the Kenyatta and Moi government, D.G. Njoroge, ended up with a 500 acre farm nearby the 100-acre rose-flower farm later grabbed by Nicholas Biwott’s Canadian son-in-law, a Mr. Charles Field-Marsham.The same trend bequeathed unto Simeon Nyachae, a 4,000 hectare Kabansora Holdings farm alongside a 10,000 acre farm called Gitomwa (acronym for Gichuru, Tony and Mwaura), owned by the family of the former Kenya Power and Lighting Company Limited (KPLC) managing director, Samuel Gichuru. Not to be outdone was the current Justice Minister, Mutula Kilonzo, who ended up with an 800-acre farm nearby. This thread will briefly highlight ownership of a 4,000 acre farm in the same Mau Narok, claimed by the family of the late Mbiyu Koinange, Kenyatta’s hawkish side-kick and former powerful minister of state in the Office of the President. This is where the late Moses Lesiamon Ole Mpoe worked as a farm manager. Part of this land named Muthera Farm, is leased to other commercial wheat farmers, with the Koinange family managing the other portion.  A group of Maasai squatters (original inhabitants) occupy a portion of it. The latter have demanded ownership of the entire farm on grounds of historic injustice and forced expropriation.Public records availed at Wikileaks also indicates that there is an outstanding Sh 7 million STFS Loan on this farm. www.wikileaks.org/wiki/Who_owns_Kenyan_land_2008What is STFS?Upon exit of colonial settlers at independence, Kenyatta’s new government offered to BUY land being vacated by the white settlers – land they never paid for in the first place. Jomo Kenyatta conspired with the British government and the World Bank to sign a loan called the Settler Transfer Fund Scheme (STFS) which was to be used to compensate these departing colonial settlers for the land they had earlier grabbed. The loan was signed on the backs of Kenyan taxpayers - payable over decades. Kenyatta had lied to Kenyans that the loan was justified and worthy because it would benefit transfer of colonial land titles to previously expropriated indigenous owners of land. But what happened as soon as the white settlers were compensated became the greatest betrayal of Kenyans - an issue that led to the fallout between Kenyatta and his then Vice President Jaramogi Oginga Odinga. Without shame or guilt, as indigenous land owners were ignored, Kenyatta not only transferred the land titles to his name, to his family, and to cronies and tribesmen, he also used the STF and more tax-payer money to acquire further land in other regions of Kenya. That is how the Kenyatta family alone ended up with an estimated half a million acres of arable and prime land.Kenyatta’s then right hand man, Mbiyu Koinange, helped himself with tens of thousands of acres, on top of a Sh 7 million STF loan ( a lot of money then), to acquire a white settler’s farm (Mr. Powys Cobb) in Mau Narok. Today, as the wikileak report (above) shows, the Koinanges are yet to clear the original Sh7 million STF loan credited to them at taxpayer guarantee. That farm is the very site where the twin controversies of Ole Mpoe's assassination, and disputed IDP resettlement that pits the host Maasai community and the arriving IDPs is playing out today. In all these land expropriation and grabbing schemes by wealthy land bourgeoisie, indigenous occupants and squatters somehow became non-existent. Land aristocrats like the Koinange family have somehow assumed that with time, the ‘squatter nuisance’ would somehow dissipate when indigenous tenants and their herds mysteriously move to some distant location. However lately, it appears the waiting game is not enough. The grabbers currently engaged in large scale wheat farming are growing uneasy about the expanding Maasai families whose parents and grandparents were driven off of the parcels just some decades ago. The Maasai basically have nowhere else to go, and continue to live within the periphery of the wheat farms. As the Maasai watch with their own eyes the wealth being generated from their land while they struggle to find grazing pasture (their cultural form of economic production), some have been lured into working the very wheat farms. As already noted, one such recruit was the late Moses Lesiamon Ole Mpoe who got employed by the Koinange family as a farm worker, slowly rising to become their farm manager. From that vantage, Ole Mpoe knew exactly how much revenue and profit the Koinange farm generated. Mpoe also had the privilege to see his fellow Maasai struggle to find school fees for their children. Maasai people were prevented from walking through these wheat farms by guards working closely with the Provincial Administration. It is precisely in these sections of Kenya (Mau Narok) where literally nothing has changed since the colonial era. Same colonial order! Only this time under black masters. In this neck of the woods, right under the Kibaki administration, the Maasai people have been reportedly beaten, verbally assaulted and charged outrageous fines for cattle ‘trespassing’ through neighbouring wheat farms. The same government, using the Provincial Administration, has so far resisted all attempts to consider legally settling the Maasai community within this area. Again, it’s no wonder all efforts are being made by the status quo to retain the provincial administration. The status quo has in fact gone further by proposing to appoint a land grabbing beneficiary as the Chairman of the Constitution Implementation Commission.
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Post by job on Dec 7, 2010 20:12:58 GMT 3
Thanks to a brand new study by Professors Meitamei Olol Dapash, Mary Poole, and Kaitlin Noss titled, Historical Injustice at Mau Narok: A Century of Maasai Land Rights Denied (2010), it is easy to discern how after colonialism, Mau Narok was re-appropriated by the Kenyatta Administration in the 1960s. The researchers state that the new government allowed the farms to be consolidated into large holdings of 10,000 acres or more then literally handed to personal friends of Jomo Kenyatta, like Bruce McKenzie, Simeon Nyachae and Peter Mbiyu Koinange, the latter two eventually becoming some of the most politically powerful men in Kenya. The rest of this thread will comprise direct excerpts from the study.Excerpt: The declaration of independence in 1963 had no effect on the government’s development agenda for Mau Narok, which could not even be derailed by the widow of Powys Cobb. In 1964, Mrs. Ethel Powys Cobb decided to return to England and to transfer the remaining 5,000 acres of “her farm” to the Maasai community that had lived on the land.
She developed a plan for the transfer with Maasai community members, including Justus Ole Tipis, which involved giving the land to six Maasai families, who would be expected to use modern farming techniques to cultivate the land and who would inspire their neighbors in the Masai Land Unit.
A portion of the farm would also be set-aside for the Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Institute that would train local people in modern agricultural practices. Ole Tipis provided the names of six Maasai clan leaders who would immediately take up this farm solong as the Government was prepared to give them financial assistance as well as advice and technical know-how.
Ethel Cobb wrote to Kenyatta's first Minister for Agriculture, Bruce McKenzie and told him of the plan. She asked to meet him, and offered to provide 10,000 pounds, and to remain financially involved with the Institute if it were built on her land. Apparently, her intention was to follow resettlement protocols and transfer the land through the Kenyan government.
But McKenzie dismissed the plan out-of-hand, refusing to open Mau Narok to Maasai farmers.
In rejecting this opportunity for Maasai people to receive training, he also showed the arrogance of the Kenyan government, as it circumvented even legal land transfers that ran counter to its agenda.
McKenzie never gave a valid or legal reason for refusing the transfer, saying only that the
Several years later the Kenyan Government found a more ‘suitable’ buyer: G. Class, a German citizen, partnering with Kenyatta's local cronies. On July 13th 1967, through Kenya Farming Limited, Class bought 4,296 acres of Mau Narok for a quarter of a million shillings.
McKenzie’s statement that Maasai attitudes hindered their involvement in agriculture was a smokescreen; Mau Narok would not be returned to Maasai ownership because it was targeted for low-density, large-scale wheat production, as wheat became the centerpiece of government agricultural policy in the region in the mid to late 1960s.
Wheat had been grown in Kenya in the 1950s and before, but its cultivation was limited primarily to the White Highlands in Uasin Gishu and Nakuru.
Several factors led to an increase in wheat development. First, Britain was eager to safeguard its investments in Kenya, namely previous World Bank loans taken out in 1960, and worked with the Kenyatta administration to enact their imperial agenda for the region.
Second, large low-density farms maintained by Europeans or transferred to wealthy Kenyans, buoyed by subsidies from the British even after 1963, became attractive ventures for further World Bank loans, supporting the development of Kenya’s export economy.
Finally, in 1967 these farms produced a crop surplus large enough to begin exporting wheat to Uganda and Tanzania. McKenzie was a key force behind this commercial agenda. He had worked consistently and vigorously throughout the changing of the guard in Kenya’s administration to keep the commercial farming agencies supported by the state ( EASB, the LDSB and the CLB ) under his executive control.
Additionally, he was close friends with the soon-to-become World Bank president and consistently championed an agenda to make Kenya’s land suitable for loans toward large-scale agricultural development.
The wheat boom of 1967 was the result of McKenzie’s push for agricultural development and farming practices in Mau Narok and other Maasai reserved grazing plains. Under sharecropping, European farmers developed private arrangements with their Maasai neighbors to provide machinery, seeds and training to turn their land to wheat; according to government documents, Maasai sharecroppers would receive two bags of wheat per acre farmed or 20% of the total crop.
By the late 1960s, aided by provincial administration, sharecroppers “from outside the Mau Narok area,” especially from Central Kenya, moved in and began contracting with Maasai people to use their land. Wheat cultivation rapidly expanded at this point, and without literacy and other means to represent their interests in contract negotiations, Maasai sharecroppers faced greater exploitation.
By 1967, 25,000 acres of the Masai Land Unit was growing wheat through sharecropping. That year saw the surplus of wheat, but serious conflicts arose, as Maasai land owners were swindled, and government investigations found it
Not wanting to lose the profit being made from wheat growing in Maasailand, the government tried to regulate sharecropper contracts and subsidized the Tractor Hire Service, to enlarge the scope of wheat growing in the Land Unit. But that only created more problems, as conflicts erupted with the mostly Kikuyu Tractor Hire Service employees.
In 1967, demanding back payment and citing other grievances, Maasai community members at Mau Narok rose up in protest, and virtually shut down wheat production there. In October 1967, Maasai leadership Justus Ole Tipis, Ole Lemien and Ole Konchella called in Bruce McKenzie and demanded an end to sharecropping in Maasailand.
McKenzie instructed the Kenyan Farmers Association to freeze 75% of the value of the 1967 crop boom until a settlement was reached between the sharecroppers and the farmers.
The government understood that it needed to end the blatant abuse of Maasai land owners and laborers, but at the same time did not want to lose the 25,000 acres of productive wheat farms that was bringing profit to the Kenyan economy. |
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Post by job on Dec 7, 2010 20:13:16 GMT 3
continued: (excerpts from Professors Meitamei Olol Dapash, Mary Poole, and Kaitlin Noss paper titled, Historical Injustice at Mau Narok: A Century of Maasai Land Rights Denied (2010),Read from the continued excerpt below details of how one Simeon Nyachae singularly destroyed the economic lifeline of the Maasai Community in Narok District while grabbing land for (himself and his bosses) towards wheat farming.To respond to this dilemma, the Ministry of Agriculture changed course in the former White Highlands and set out to turn Maasai people themselves into farmers there, or in the words of a Ministry of Agriculture report, to enable “the early and complete conversion of the Maasai peoples and their traditional territorial holdings to optimum economic usefulness within the Nation.”
This goal was to be facilitated by a new agency created in 1968, the Masai Agricultural Development Organization (MADO), under the umbrella of the Central Agricultural Board and the general management of Andrew Mercer of the World Bank.
Using World Bank loans and other investment, Mercer’s job was to:
(1) pay contractors to harvest the 1968 crop
(2) develop processing, water, transportation and other infrastructure to enable further wheat development in the region
(3) build a “Farmers Training Center” for Maasai farmers
(4) streamline land titles in Maasailand to add 33,000 acres to land being cultivated for wheat every year, until all 1.5 million acres of “good wheat potential land in Narok district” was cultivated - a significant portion by local Maasai.
The estimated cost was 600 million Kenyan shillings. MADO would supersede all other government agencies and be “entirely responsible for Agricultural development in the Masailand,” though some concern was expressed that it would therefore exist independent of other authorities.
Mercer assured the Narok District Agricultural Committee that the aim of his organization “was to help the Masai and that no cent from MADO would go out of the district” but would be used for development in Maasailand. By July, 1968, 56 Maasai farmers were signed up to produce wheat on farms ranging from 50 to over 700 acres in size.
But MADO was abruptly terminated after five short months by the Provincial Commissioner for the Rift Valley, Simeon Nyachae.
After it became clear to the Maasai leadership that MADO was not giving loans to Maasai farmers, instead disbursing them to Kenyatta, Nyachae, and Koinange allies, it immediately lost support of the Maasai community; Ole Tipis and other Maasai leadership insisted that MADO should audit all its activities in Narok.
Nyachae reported to Mercer that “the Masai had stopped progress [on wheat growing] and MADO had been interpreted as a ‘Big Fish which swallows others.’ The Masai had rejected MADO and suspended all its activities…”
But more needs to be understood about Nyachae’s role in the death of MADO, because the end of MADO was part of a larger trend to consolidate power over agricultural development in Maasailand in the office of the Provincial Commissioner. And, Nyachae’s personal interest also must be considered, as he himself came out of this period of turbulence owning some of the most prime land at Mau Narok, a part of the former Powys Cobb estate.
Thanks to a biography of Nyachae, based on sources not available through government archives, we have an opportunity to gain insight into the ways that Kenyatta era government administrators came to control and profit from Maasailand.
Simeon Nyachae was well positioned in 1968 to influence the development of wheat in Maasailand, to have an insider’s knowledge into the profit potential from wheat farming there and how to best acquire them.
As his biographer sums it up, “In addition to benefiting personally from the large transfers of land from European to African hands, Simeon Nyachae had an administrative role in the process.”
Nyachae had been “recalled from England” in 1964 by President Kenyatta to be District Commissioner of Nyandarua, and “thrown into the midst of the land reform frenzy.”
As PC for the Rift Valley after 1965, though Nyachae had “no direct responsibility for administering the settlement schemes,” he oversaw law enforcement and the adjudication of land disputes. He also served as the Chair of the Provincial Agricultural Board Rift Valley Province beginning in 1968.
And Nyachae had another asset: a personal relationship with Jomo Kenyatta, as previously noted. Provincial Commissioners had tremendous power under Kenyatta—they were the “iron frame upon which [he] built his political control of the country” and “[PCs] were his effective proconsuls, supervising and controlling regional developments in much the same way as their colonial predecessors had done.”
The Rift Valley contained much of the former European settled areas and therefore the settlement schemes.
As PC, Nyachae was responsible for determining which Maasai families “had traditional occupancy rights to the land” so that they would benefit from the scheme.
Nyachae’s influence only expanded and deepened over time. He became chair of Kenya’s Wheat Board after 1972, and Chair of the National Cereals and Produce Board in 1980, and eventually Chief Secretary under President Moi.
Two examples illuminate Nyachae’s consolidation of power over agricultural development in Maasailand.
First, Nyachae undermined and ultimately eliminated MADO by engaging in a fight with Andrew Mercer. In June 1968, Nyachae wrote a letter to Permanent Secretary of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, S.B. Ogembo, complaining that MADO was failing because it was not including Maasai communities in wheat development schemes.
Nyachae said, “To treat [sic] masailand as if it were State land and in effect to go ahead without consulting the land owners, will no doubt cause political and social repercussions from the masai people.” His advice was to work through him, as the ‘man on the ground’ who knew how to navigate local acceptance.
If the Ministry wanted to “open up new areas for [wheat] development” in Maasailand, it had to “seek opinion of field officers (under him), who are more conversant with ground problems, instead of assuming that people in remote areas could be directed in the manner some official in Nairobi may theoretically consider to be sound.”
In writing this letter, Nyachae had dropped a bomb on the Ministry of Agriculture and specifically MADO. Mercer, the person most directly under attack from Nyachae, responded with outrage. He claimed that Nyachae had “deliberately distorted” the situation.
Mercer said that Nyachae had been in on the Ministry’s decision to keep the Maasai community in the dark, and this was done for “certain political reasons.” The Ministry admitted later that it did not inform Maasai farmers about MADO to delay giving them the opportunity to reject it until the 1968 crop was planted.
While Nyachae pretended to be protecting Maasai people from MADO, other conflicts muddy the water. One of these was a disagreement between Mercer and Nyachae over land adjudication
Wheat schemes depended on Maasai farmers obtaining loans to develop their land, but loans were hindered in Maasailand as lending institutions wanted private titles for collateral. Mercer wanted to secure titles by “Enkutoto,” or group land ownership, which would empower communities to be responsible for loan repayment.
He said that “such divisions already [have] traditional councils” that would manage wheat development locally. It would seem that Mercer wanted to work with Maasai communities and their existing social structures. But according to Mercer, Nyachae privately supported allotting Maasai land by individual title, opening loopholes for both corruption and exploitation. In all these schemes, Nyachae cleverly appraised President Kenyatta on a regular basis, frequently notifying him of available farming 'opportunities', and thereby staying constantly in the President's favour.
Mercer said about Nyachae, “ he has at various committee meetings indicated his view that individual Masai have specific land rights and he could see no reason for this organization not entering into specific agreements with individuals…” F.E. Charnley, Agricultural Commissioner of Lands, likely influenced by Mercer, was against individual allotment, as he was concerned to prevent “a land grab by the wealthier and more sophisticated Masai.”
When land was allotted, he said, that “the full rights and interests of all the people must be taken into account.” He came to this conclusion after “several meetings with the Narok County Council and prominent Masai leaders from Narok district.” Individual title would also make it easier for the profits of wheat growing in Maasailand to be realized by outsiders.
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Post by job on Dec 7, 2010 20:13:33 GMT 3
While himself being the culprit, Nyachae’s most serious accusation was that the Ministries of Land and Agriculture were conspiring to ‘set apart’ land inside the Masai Land Unit for growing wheat without the consent of Maasai communities.
DC Mlamba, Permanent Secretary of Agriculture, adamantly denied the charge, and insisted that Nyachae “produce evidence in writing to prove” the claim. He suggested that Nyachae be disciplined for his unfounded accusation. Mlamba counter-charged that Nyachae had deliberately undermined the Ministry’s work in Maasailand, that he did not “sell” MADO to Maasai communities. Mlambo attacked Nyachae’s “holier than thou attitude with regard to the Masai wheat development scheme,” and suggested that Nyachae, who presented himself as the champion of Maasai interests, had “come out clear all along.”
Nyachae responded with a personal attack. “Mr. Mlambo must be having mental sickness” that “the silly man” did not know that officials in his ministry had been “involved in discussing the question of setting apart some areas of Maasailand for wheat growing.”
Taking the high ground, Nyachae lectured Mlambo that he, the PC, was responsible to look out for his Maasai constituents. Mlambo should be grateful, he argued, because “without my intervention and the support of the Vice-President Daniel arap Moi, his ministry would now not be operating a single tractor in Masailand.”
If government administrators were quietly discussing a take-over of some areas of Maasailand, Nyachae cunningly presented himself as a whistleblower, and wrote letters to Charnley, or he sometimes directly intimidated the officials as Mlamba’s letter implies. Or, there may have been no plot, and Nyachae’s challenge was intended to stop rumors from making community members suspicious.
In any event, MADO was ended in July, and the Ministry of Agriculture ceded control over development in Maasailand personally to Simeon Nyachae.
Mlamba said, “If all the help the Provincial Administration in Rift Valley can give this Government is further unprincipled and ungovernmental criticism, then we in Agriculture shall gleefully say, “Goodbye Masai.” Though it was not under his jurisdiction, Nyachae nevertheless effectively put a stop to MADO within a month of his letter to Charnley.
Nyachae also had influence as PC over land adjudication in Maasailand, and he used his position to solidify his own power to make the final determination over land disputes.
With the failure of MADO, the Ministry of Agriculture moved more actively into land adjudication. According to a September 1968 Ministry of Agriculture report:
it is imperative that the system of land tenure in Mau Narok be regularized as soon as possible. Unless this is done, attempts by individuals or groups to grab large acreages of land will continue to frustrate both Governments’ efforts to develop the Narok district and also people’s wish to see that their area is developed same as other parts of Kenya.
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Nyachae recognized problems with land adjudication, especially the “noticeable change of attitude among the Masai on the ownership and value of land” in the recent past, disapproval by “the more enlightened Masai” of Kikuyu and other “acceptees” who hoped to benefit from Maasai land disbursal, and clan and family “clashes.”
[/b] In light of these problems, Nyachae advocated “firm and urgent action.” As the final arbitrator, Nyachae suggested an amendment to the Group Representative Act to “give the Arbitration Committees power to make binding decision whenever it deemed it appropriate and particularly in cases connected with section, clan and family interest.” He personally arbitrated between Maasai land owners and “the predominantly Kikuyu” tractor contractors over terms of leases. His biographer claims that Nyachae worked tirelessly “to protect the Maasai,” which observation apparently came from interviews with Nyachae himself. Other observers point the contrary. If Nyachae were in fact promoting the interest of Maasai farmers, he was not successful. The Tractor Hire Service continued to operate in Maasailand, and continued to receive government subsidy, and profits continued to leave the area. Simeon Nyachae, the man who now farms the land carved out of Maasailand by Powys Cobb a century ago, is a very wealthy man, and he built his wealth through government connections and power. In the 1970s he was a shareholder in nine companies, according to a survey of Registrar of Companies, and the list expanded to “at least a dozen” by 1987. His biographer also reports that he is in partnership with members of Kenyan Asian communities, which resulted at the time because the ‘Africanization of Commerce’ provision limited the ability of non-Africans to own business without African partners. “Senior government officials such as Nyachae were generally favored for these joint ventures because their names helped to clear the way in getting government approvals and licenses, even if no direct influence was ever exerted.” It is also significant to note that “Nyachae never acquired any property or businesses in Central Province, despite his long stay there as provincial commissioner.” His biographer explained that, “He believed that to do so would create conflict because of the intense Kikuyu interest in both land and commerce.” In strong contrast to this, Nyachae’s acquisition of Maasailand was facilitated by the relative powerlessness amongst Maasai people in their own region, making under-the-table land grabs a common occurrence. In 1969, shortly after MADO’s demise, Simeon Nyachae came to personally benefit from the original theft by Powys Cobb of 30,000 acres of Maasailand at Mau Narok, as he himself acquired a significant portion of that land, which was “a reasonable drive from his provincial headquarters.” His biographer reports that “President Kenyatta personally helped to arrange both the purchase and the loan.” After this first acquisition known as Sansora Farm, Nyachae obtained two additional farms at Mau Narok, and today he is a “large wheat producer.” His biographer states that “these enterprises are all managed for him by trained personnel seconded by the government Agricultural Development Corporation.” Nyachae pays for these services, “but as there are not enough good ADC managers to go around for all who want them, influence sometimes plays a part in acquiring one.” Nyachae stands as one wealthy Kenyan government administrator that came into possession of stolen Maasai land during the first years of Kenyan “independence.” There are others, but comparable documentary evidence is lacking. The Ministry of Lands apparently cannot find files on Mau Narok, and the current makeup of land owners there is not accessible to the public. But, we can surmise from limited evidence that Nyachae’s story is not unique.[/blockquote][/i][/color] |
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Post by job on Dec 7, 2010 21:23:57 GMT 3
For example, a second 10,000 parcel of Cobb’s land at Mau Narok is in the possession of the family of Peter Mbiyu Koinange, a member of Kenyatta’s inner circle and like Nyachae, a wealthy Kenyan who acquired property and built personal wealth during the mid 1960s.
Koinange was a detainee and then parliamentary representative from Limuru and later served as Minister of State in the Office of the President under Kenyatta; he was educated in elite universities in the U.S. and also lived in Britain.
Like Nyachae, Koinange was on the Agricultural Board for Rift Valley Province, and so was involved in the transfer of lands under settlement schemes. Koinange is one of the most prominent citizens of Kenya’s history, and yet he has left a scant paper trail, so little is known publicly about the extent of his property holdings.
But, some information is known about Koinange in the Maasai community at Mau Narok that is not part of his public record. Moses Ole Mpoe (recentlyassassinated), and other Maasai people from Mau Narok, report that Koinange showed an interest in the same 4,200 acres that Ethel Cobb wanted to sell to the Maasai community in 1964.
Ethel Cobb eventually sold that land in 1967 to G. Class, a European living today in Germany. In private interviews, Class has confirmed that he was approached and asked to sell his land in 1976. When he refused, he was immediately deported by the Kenyatta government, given 24 hours to leave the country, with no time to dispose of his land.
Mbiyu Koinange, the powerful Minister for Internal Security at the time and therefore head of immigration, acquired his farm shortly thereafter. The Koinange family continues to occupy and profit from the land, which produces wheat.
But, Class claims that he still retains legal title to the land. Class attempted to sell the land to a Maasai NGO, Olmaroroi Trust Ltd, and Maasai community members actually occupied a portion of the land for two years until they were removed by the Kibaki government in 2005.
Concluding Remarks
In evaluating the history of Mau Narok presented herein, several points are critical:
• The Maasai have steadfastly maintained their deep commitment to ancestral land at Mau Narok through the appropriation of this land under British and Kenyan rule.
• The most reliable British sources suggest that 1) Maasai leadership was assured that Mau Narok was included in the Masai Reserve through the 1911 Agreement, and 2) Powys Cobb illegally took land at Mau Narok without interference from the colonial government.
• Maasai land claims were not fairly represented at the Constitutional Conferences that framed Kenya’s land policy.
• Since 1963, Maasai land at Mau Narok has been wrongfully and illegally appropriated by Kenya’s power elite without recognition of the rights to the land of the Maasai people.
• The loss of this land has had long term negative impact on the ability of the Maasai community to pursue development and education.
The documentary record, which is cited here, is available for examination and verification.
As the misappropriation of Mau Narok is recent history, not mired in centuries of blurred boundaries and long ago scattered communities, this is one injustice that would be relatively easy to remedy.
Justice and history require that the Maasai finally regain their ancestral land at Mau Narok.
They should at last have the opportunity to flourish as a proud community with the resources that will better enable them to participate in the creation of their own future.
As they build a foundation for their own survival, the Maasai people also contribute to the strength of Kenya itself, and indeed to that of the planet, as the survival and continuation of Maasai culture and society, and especially its deep historical knowledge of communal living in a shared environment, enriches us all.
end of excerpt.
It is therefore in no dispute that the said land in question, originally owned by the Cobb family, later transferred to Mr. Class, eventually grabbed by the Koinange family (& now being misrepresented as belonging to a third party by the Rift Valley PC), is under dispute - thus cannot be suitable for IDP resettlement (government purchase at billions of shillings).
This is a scandal that must be unearthed at all cost - Ole Mpoe's assassination must not be in vain.
Key to me is the fact that the Provincial Administration under Kibaki kicked-out Maasai's from this land in 2005, only to resettle a different community (IDPs) in the same parcels while the wounds (of eviction from ancestral land) are still sore. This is total recklessness!!!!!!!
Where are the patriotic Kenyans tired of business as usual? |
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Post by politicalmaniac on Dec 8, 2010 1:33:05 GMT 3
Job
These questions should be grabbed like batons by the 4th estate, and they should run with them.
But NO
The Kenyans dailies are full of crap instead, a very good reason why I dont drive web traffic to them unless something is linked here.
Where are the investigative journalists?
Where are the MPs who have a big mega phone in Parliament?
Instead we have jokers like Judas KM wa Tseikuru running around in RV selling snake oil of a triple K alliance. Just how will this alliance solve the deadly, thorny land issue, when the alliance is populated by folks whose names appear above?
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Post by job on Dec 8, 2010 2:15:30 GMT 3
Job
These questions should be grabbed like batons by the 4th estate, and they should run with them.
But NO
The Kenyans dailies are full of crap instead, a very good reason why I dont drive web traffic to them unless something is linked here.
Where are the investigative journalists?
Where are the MPs who have a big mega phone in Parliament?
Instead we have jokers like Judas KM wa Tseikuru running around in RV selling snake oil of a triple K alliance. Just how will this alliance solve the deadly, thorny land issue, when the alliance is populated by folks whose names appear above? Exactly. A friend of mine, a PhD scholar (from Narok South) based in New York, was so frustrated not a single JOURNALIST was interested in digging up the bottom of this story exposing the land aristocrats. She's equally pissed off at the largely silent (or slow reacting) human rights activists whom she is now accusing of...'sharing similar disdain' for rights of marginalized communities'. But more annoying in the manner that media skewed the reports, to portray the late Ole Mpoe as a petty village inciter and hot-head whose death has zero consequence. I reminded her that freedom of the press is actually restricted to the media owners - who happen to be part of the same land aristocracy; and that activism starts with one single voice. Since she's also a frequent visitor of JUKWAA, she quickly fed me researched facts and tit-bits within her reach - herein above. A lot of it caught my interest especially; - The role played by the provincial administration in safeguarding land owned by these aristocrats
- Nyachae's role in robbing the Maasai of their land in Narok
- Kibaki's 2005 eviction of Maasai families from former settler farms in Mau Narok ( again using the provincial administration)These nefarious characters are greedy and cold-blooded. This is simply a case where land speculators, eager to quickly dispose off to government - for billions of shillings - land that was irregularly acquired (& still under dispute), will do anything including assassinations to effect the transaction. No value for human life whatsoever. We even predicted (ominously) that these callous land speculators may be toying with the idea of creating more demand (by government), to purchase their land holdings in the near future. What better way is there to create that demand if not instigating another IDP situation down the line? What's not possible by them mafias? Some dastardly and cruel beings! |
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Post by adongo23456 on Dec 8, 2010 2:15:33 GMT 3
job,
This is a powerful expose. I am going to read it very carefully. Sometimes you wish there is some kind of investigative media in Kenya. This is a story I would like my friend Githuku of Mulika to follow up and may be make some kind of a documentary on it.
May be Jeff Koinange will feature the story in 3 sides of the coin? Not in humdred years? Right?
We are going to follow these guys even up to their graves.
This is is great piece job. Thanks.
adongo
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Post by job on Dec 8, 2010 2:23:41 GMT 3
job,
This is a powerful expose. I am going to read it very carefully. Sometimes you wish there is some kind of investigative media in Kenya. This is a story I would like my friend Githuku of Mulika to follow up and may be make some kind of a documentary on it.
May be Jeff Koinange will feature the story in 3 sides of the coin? Not in humdred years? Right?
We are going to follow these guys even up to their graves.
This is is great piece job. Thanks.
adongo A friend passed me the chilling info. Investigative media in Kenya is dead.....Well,as for Jeff, I wonder whether he could wade into the murky skeleton-filled-closet of his wealthy kin...he only has time for documentaries like 'How Mungiki saved Kenya during PEV'. Bure and biased kabisa!!! |
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Post by job on Dec 8, 2010 2:26:08 GMT 3
Adongo,
Do you now see the fallacy of having the heir of Nyachae's land-grabs as the Chairman of the CIC? What more can be annoying and frustrating as being stuck on a status quo record?
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Post by ebarasi on Dec 8, 2010 4:26:54 GMT 3
Adongo, Do you now see the fallacy of having the heir of Nyachae's land-grabs as the Chairman of the CIC? What more can be annoying and frustrating as being stuck on a status quo record? Job, Great, just great. It is now clear why the "elite" is so damn scared of the increasing demands by Kenyans not only for accountability and equity but also for control over the management of their daily affairs. They would rather we went to church and bought ourselves a piece land or a plot in the afterlife and just leave things to be as they are. Here the late Robert Nesta Marley is talking to these crazy baldheads from his grave. |
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Post by politicalmaniac on Dec 8, 2010 4:46:50 GMT 3
Adongo, Do you now see the fallacy of having the heir of Nyachae's land-grabs as the Chairman of the CIC? What more can be annoying and frustrating as being stuck on a status quo record? There is an incestous relationship existing among the elite, and it crosses tribal lines. What unites them in a common thread is their pervasive holdings across the economy. And the 4th estate is such a big joke in the country today and it saddens me greatly that most of it is in the hands of these same, same families. We have been praying here for a long time that ODM gets its own mouthpiece. The progressive community desirous of good governace and equity would be well served with one too. This is a niche that is ripe for a bold investor. |
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Post by reporter911 on Dec 8, 2010 7:29:14 GMT 3
HERE COMES THE COVER-UP! ON WHO WAS PAID TO KILL MPOE
PEOPLE PICKED FROM THE STREETS BY THE POLICE AND WILL SOON BE RELEASE BECAUSE OF INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE! KENYANS WAKE UP IT COULD BE YOU TOMORROW.. THESE LAND THIEVING BARONS ARE RUTHLESS
Five to answer charges of killing land activist
Five people are expected in court on Wednesday to answer charges of killing Mau Narok land activist Moses ole Mpoe.
Mr Mpoe’s car was sprayed with bullets at the Nakuru-Njoro turn-off last Friday. A passenger in the car also died while Mr Mpoe’s brother is being treated for gunshot wounds.
On Monday, one of the suspects, Mr Nicholas Ngetich was arraigned before Lady Justice Roselyn Wendo, but did not take a plea, as State counsel Zachary Omwenga said police needed more time to investigate. HERE IS THE CATCHY PUNCHLINE!!
Meanwhile, 12 human rights groups in the Rift Valley have accused the government of dragging its feet in the investigation.
Rift Valley Human Rights Network chairman Ken Wafula said on Tuesday in Nakuru that police had not arrested people that Mr Mpoe accused of threatening him.
“Why have they left the politician and district commissioner Mr Mpoe named in a statement to the police? Those arrested are a mere cover-up,” he said, adding: “Human rights crusaders in this country are now an endangered species.”
Mr Wafula, who is also the executive director of the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, also said that a statement by one of the activists in the land case, that his life was in danger, should not be taken lightly.
On Monday, US-based scholar Meitamei Olol Dapash, the architect of the case in which 52 Maasai herders are claiming 30,000 acres of land owned by prominent families in Mau Narok Division of Nakuru County, recorded a statement with police that he was being trailed by unknown people.ANOTHER MURDER WAITING TO HAPPEN PAID FOR BY THE LAND MAFIA
On Tuesday, Maasai elders urged the government to suspend the resettlement of election violence victims on the controversial piece of land to ease the mounting tension.
However, Rift Valley provincial commissioner Osman Warfa on Monday said the resettlement would gotHIS GUY SHOULD BE IN JAIL
KENYANS MUST WAKE UP RIGHT NOW! HOW LONG WILL KENYANS SIT BACK AND LET THESE LAND THIEVES GET AWAY WITH MURDERERS OF INNOCENT ACTIVISTS? TIME OUT..
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Post by shifta on Dec 8, 2010 8:20:35 GMT 3
That piece by Job is just superb The Kenyan 4th. estate has ADD problems. They can not stay on a story long enogh, but even more damming is that there is barely any in-depth historical reporting sch as what Job posted.
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Post by phil on Dec 8, 2010 10:40:41 GMT 3
Where does this leave IDPs?
Whether or not we deal with the land elites and aristocrats, the IDPs must be resettled somewhere within the borders of the republic. Their security must also be guaranteed. These IDPs are Kenyans and it saddens me greatly that they are being subjected to inhuman living conditions and being treated like 3rd class citizens while the country continues to politic on pathetic issues like the Ruto/kalonzo driven KKK alliance which in my opinion will only create more IDPs in the future.
What has come over the leadership of this country?
I think this is where the ODM needs to strongly show its commitment to working towards finding sustainable settlement and security for IDPs who have suffered for far too long and through no fault of their own. The ODM has a chance to prove for once that it stands on the side of poor and helpless Kenyans. The Maa community are ODM supporters but this does not mean IDPs cannot be ODM supporters as well. Let the party put in motion efforts that will see the resolution of IDP problem in Kenya.
Parliament recently belatedly formed a committee on IDPs. One hopes that with the powers vested in the legislature, parliament will be able to force the executive look into long term solutions to the IDP and squatter problem in this country.
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Post by kamalet on Dec 8, 2010 17:11:54 GMT 3
Anyone that was displaced from their farm in 2008 surely has either gone back to his land or like others that I know have sold their farms and moved on.
Unfortunately, we are dealing with people that had no land and what the government is doing is unfair to others who never had land by giving these fake IDP's land!
If you are an IDP and need to be resettled, then show us how much land you owned, it will be replaced with the same amount of land and the land you have abandoned sold to repay the government's expenditure! Allowing this re-settlement scam is just wrong and the people benefitting are those selling the land to the government! I am still waiting for an offer for my land which is available for resettlement of these fakes - I can make my money and laugh rather than run!
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Post by job on Dec 8, 2010 18:22:33 GMT 3
Can you imagine a scenario where your community land is forcefully expropriated from your clan by a white colonialist,....... your people thrown into a neighbouring reserve, with some remaining within the land as squatters (workers), then...... when independence comes (1963), your hopes are dashed when Jomo Kenyatta's side-kick called Mbiyu Koinange grabs the same land, continues farming it commercially (wheat) with squatters inside for DECADES,...... then when a new constitution is eventually passed in 2010 (promising land reforms), your hopes are again dashed, when the Koinange family colludes with the corrupt government of the day (aided by provincial administration), with the latter misallocating billions of our Kenyan taxpayer shillings, compensating the Koinange grabbers,under the guise of resettling what might soon turn out to be fake IDPs! Then when a community farm worker protests and files a case in court, mobilizing his community in awareness, he is assassinated in cold-blood by the mouth-watering conspiracy of provincial administration and the Koinange family (now eyeing the taxpayer compensation for the land) ! Callous IMPUNITY!!!!! That may well sum up circumstances surrounding the life of the late Moses Ole Mpoe.Mainstream media has been silenced in reporting this potentially explosive conspiracy, but we shall not only keep it alive, but also FIGHT to ensure that Justice is done someday. The late Ole Mpoe's death shall not be in vain - this is a promise. We shall be forming an INTERNATIONAL NETWORK to specifically deal with this precedent-setter.My friend in New York (a Mau Narok native) has just e-mailed me this archived news report (below) offering even more clues. She fished it out of a June 2010 East African Standard newspaper. It reveals Narok DC Geoffrey Kigochi declaring he was aware of 'some people' against resettlementof IDPs and assured that the "government would take action against politicians inciting people to invade the piece of land, meant to resettle IDPs."Given that Kamale (above) insinuates the very real possibility that these people being resettled in Mau Narok may afterall be fake IDPs stresses a point I made earlier. Land oligarchs are desperate to offload their ill-gotten land to the government - and the best excuse is to claim justification of IDP resettlement. Brace for more of these scams robbing our taxpayer kitty into pockets of even more land grabbers. It is now obvious that this piece of land causing Mpoe's murder - rightfully belonging to the Maasai community - was grabbed by Mbiyu Koinange, whose family is now blackmailing & demanding billions of shillings from us tax-payers, to resettle these fake IDPs. That's how terrible it gets. Give the Maasai, not the IDPs, the Mau-Narok Land-leaders tell government
Published on 06/12/2010
By Mark Kapchanga
The Government is being blamed for playing delaying tactics on an otherwise volatile issue on the controversial 30, 000-acre piece of land in Mau Narok.
According to area politicians flanked by leading businessman and local leader Daniel Ole Kiptunen, the State must hasten the judicial process to ensure that the lawful owners of the land, now owned by the country’s prominent personalities, are resettled.
It is alleged that several families were evicted from the controversial farm by powerful individuals in Kenyatta administration.
On Thursday, thousands of people from the area attended a court-hearing session that was to determine the fate of the piece of land.
The hearing of the case was, however, pushed to March 9 after two of the three judges appointed by the Chief Justice Evan Gicheru to hear it were said to be on leave.
"The States seems to be scared by this move. It is ironic that the two judges are on leave despite the fact that the office of the Chief Justice had set December 2 as the date of the hearing of the matter," Mr Ole Kiptunen said.
The case mentions the first respondent as the Attorney General of the Republic of Kenya and has been sued in his capacity as the legal adviser to the Kenyan Government while the second respondents are the Registered Settlement Fund Trustees.
Kenya declared a protectorate
According to the petitioners, led by Professor Meitamei Olol Dapash, when Kenya was declared a protectorate in 1897, through the East African Order in Council, the British Imperial Government extended to the protectorate the 1894 Indian land Acquisition Act, which was then used to compulsorily" acquire land for the Railway line and for the ten mile zone each side of the line for Government buildings and other public places.
Mr Ole Kiptunen says the delay strategies will not defeat the will of the people, whose time has come.
"This will set a precedence to other communities who were unfairly displaced from their rightful pieces of land. We are determined to have our land back," he said.
But the leading businessman says the quest will be done peacefully. "We are even ready to buy the piece of land at market rates," he added.
Leading lawyer Thomas Letangule, who represents the aggrieved party, blames the successive Governments for their failure to redress the petitioners "for the alienation of their lands" which has denied them an equal opportunity for development as other Kenyan communities.
Mr Letangule, credited for having successfully argued a number of land cases against prominent personalities, is optimistic the Maasai community will justly get back their land under Article 10 of the UNDRIP, a UN declaration which seeks to address the rights of indigeneous people.
"The declaration says indigenous people shall not be forcibly removed from their lands or territories. No relocation shall take place without free, prior and informed consent of the indigenous peoples concerned and after agreement on just and fair compensation and where possible, with the option of return," Mr Letangule said.
The petitioners say that their ancestral native title was never extinguished by the acquisition of the piece of land by the British colonial settlers.
"Their native title to those lands subsists to date and it ought to be enforced and the petitioners and the Maasai community be granted possession of those lands," Prof Dapash said.
The move comes days after it was alleged that the current owners of the pieces of land will give way for the settlement of the internally displaced persons.
On Friday, the Government stated that it would take action against politicians inciting people to invade the piece of land, meant to resettle IDPs.
Narok DC Geoffrey Kigochi said he was aware that there are people who are against the resettlement. |
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Post by reporter911 on Dec 8, 2010 18:55:49 GMT 3
The above Statement pisses me off!! How can you plan a resettlement on land that was stolen from its owners?
Where is the LAND MINISTERS STAND ON THIS? HE HAS BEEN VERY QUIET? Bloodshed on this land... The Masai's must get their land back.. KENYANS MUST STAND UP AND STOP THIS IMPUNITY AND INJUSTICES
This politicians in parliament are useless! these are some of the times Kenyans would not mind a snap elections, lets overhaul the dead weight in parliament! this is ridiculous if I were an IDP I would not settle on this land..
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Post by kamalet on Dec 8, 2010 19:16:20 GMT 3
The above Statement pisses me off!! How can you plan a resettlement on land that was stolen from its owners? Where is the LAND MINISTERS STAND ON THIS? HE HAS BEEN VERY QUIET? Bloodshed on this land... The Masai's must get their land back.. KENYANS MUST STAND UP AND STOP THIS IMPUNITY AND INJUSTICES
This politicians in parliament are useless! these are some of the times Kenyans would not mind a snap elections, lets overhaul the dead weight in parliament! this is ridiculous if I were an IDP I would not settle on this land.. I think you guys are going overboard. The white man forcefully took the land for the simple reason he ruled. The land was then sold to willing Kenyans so this story of stoeln land is neither here nor there. What is being suggested is that I should not have bought my little plot in Ongata Rongai from another 'foreigner' since it belonged to the maasai! Or the land I have in Nyandarua, legitimately bought by me a product of Kiambu should have been sold by folks from Nyeri as they were the original occupants! Silly is it not? |
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Post by njamba on Dec 8, 2010 19:50:52 GMT 3
So who has ancestral claim to the land in question?
Before the land was converted to crown land who had right of ownership and was the ownership based on customary lease, buying or occupation. Remember the colonial government argued that the tribes that were disposed from their land as a result of colonial occupation too had displaced other tribes such as dorobo and gumba. So if need to go back to history and argue this case out then I suggest that Kalenjin give the land back to Maasai and Kikuyus in kiambu give back land to Maa and Dorobos
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Post by job on Dec 8, 2010 20:14:30 GMT 3
So who has ancestral claim to the land in question? Doesn't look to melike it was Mbiyu Koinage owning this land at Mau Narok when the British arrived. Interestingly,even the colonialist understood the Maasai cultural tenure of land ownership - based on a communal or trust system. Maasai's never claimed individual ownership for along time - and the colonial government made a provision for that under laws, which have existed even post independence. When the first Brit (Cobb) took over the land, Maasais they were still squatting on the same land - until Kibaki (using the provincial administration) started evicting them in 2005. There is nothing like Mbiyu Koinange buying the land - he simply used his proximity to Jomo Kenyatta to dispossess another white man (German) called Class of the property, deported the latter (using his powers as Minister of State in the OP), and moved into the land. That's what is called land grabbing. Now,his kin would wish to kick out the Maasai squatters and settle in fake IDPs in exchange of more of our tapayer billions. That's now called corruption - on top of the earlier land grabbing. Totally unacceptable! |
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Post by Titchaz on Dec 8, 2010 20:27:14 GMT 3
Meanwhile:Govt revokes 345 irregular land titles Lands minister James Orengo addresses a press conference at Ardhi House, Nairobi December 8, 2010. He said the government had revoked 345 land titles. By NATION Reporter Posted Wednesday, December 8 2010 at 17:56 Parcels of land reportedly owned by top personalities including MPs and influential businessmen are among those repossessed by the government. The owners of the 345 title deeds, which have been revoked, include Eldoret North MP William Ruto, Fahim Yasin Twaha (Lamu West ) and Juja legislator William Kabogo Gitau.Others are those owned by companies and ordinary Kenyans. The list is contained in a special Kenya Gazette Notice number 124 of November 26, 2010. Making the announcement Wednesday, Lands minister James Orengo, said all the 345 pieces have reverted to the government. “Necessary measures to prepare title deeds for the parcels of land are underway and once they are all ready, the government will issue the titles back to the affected government institutions,” said Mr Orengo at his Ardhi House office in Nairobi. The revoked parcel of land allocated to Mr Ruto is Eldoret Bloc 8/574 and was revoked through gazette notice number 15578 of November, 26, 2010. The piece of land under the ownership of Mr Kabogo, LR 7785/1173, in Nairobi, was revoked through gazette notice number 11536 of October, 1, 2010. Those repossessed from Twaha are Lamu Block IV/189, Lamu Block IV/126, Lamu Block IV/127, Lamu Block IV128 and Lamu Block IV 129. The revocation was done through a gazette notice number 5564 of May, 21, 2010. Others repossessed are seven pieces of land owned by Lima Limited; they are Eldoret Block 4/55, Eldoret Municipality Block 4/52, Eldoret Municipality Block 4/53, Eldoret Municipality Block 4/56, Eldoret Municipality Block 4/54, Eldoret Municipality Block 4/57 and Eldoret Municipality Block 4/129.Their revocation was made through gazette notice number 11538 of October,1, 2010.A parcel of land, Kakamega block 3/160 owned by the late cabinet minister Joshua Mulanda Angatia was also repossessed. Title deeds of two plots, LR 1432/55 and LR 1432/256, both in Hombay, owned by the late politician Aluoch Polo, were also revoked. Mr Orengo said the Lands Ministry in consultation with the Kenya Anti Corruption Commission (KACC) decided to revoke the title deeds, saying the current constitution gives the government power to repossess public land allocated through unlawful means. “The aggrieved are also catered for under the Bill of Rights and can go to court if they do not agree with our action,” said Mr Orengo. Also repossessed are parcels of land owned by Mr Turbman Otieno, Hass Petrol Station, Leisure Lodge, Kwale County Council and Mombasa Municipal Council among others. Asked whether the revocation of the land under the ownership of Mr Ruto would be seen as witch hunt, Mr Orengo said the ministry had made its decision based on complaints received from members of the public and investigations done by both lands officials and the KACC. Some of the parcels were fraudulently acquired from the Kenya Wildlife Service, Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, Kenya Civil Aviation Authority, Kenya National Library and Meteorological Department. Mr Orengo said the ministry will continue to investigate, unearth and expose individuals and organizations that may have in the past acquired parcels of land from individuals and public institutions, unlawfully. “Many individuals have appeared in court for acquiring wrongly or helping individuals and organizations to acquire land illegally. This trend is bound to reach a crescendo as more cases continue coming up following efforts by Ministry of Lands, KACC and individuals, “ the minister added. In October, this year, Prime Minister Raila Odinga handed over 56 title deeds worth more than Sh3.5 billion to public institutions. The parcels of land had been irregularly issued to individuals and organizations. www.nation.co.ke/News/politics/Govt%20revokes%20345%20irregular%20land%20titles/-/1064/1068594/-/14dtmuiz/-/index.html
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Post by njamba on Dec 8, 2010 20:27:16 GMT 3
Then koinange and GOK has no claim to this land and it should revert back to maasai and IDPS resettled Elsewhere. What GOK can do is negotiate with Maasai to sell the land. By the way how many communities in kenya have title ownership of land? Is all land in Kenya demarcated?
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