Mau: The “convenient” leveler
By SYLVESTER OLUOCH
Published November 27, 2009
The Mau forest saga has been unfolding in a manner unprecedented. Mau is turning out to be the fence that binds the wealthy and squatters in the same yard. Welcome to a tale of misery and opportunistic politics.
When the report on Mau first came out, there was evidence that more than 90 percent of the land was held by well-to-do people, whereas squatters huddled on the rest. Kenya’s two royal families; the Kenyattas and the Mois have vesting interests in the Mau, with Uhuru Kenyatta running a tree harvesting machine, which is as mean as a rock eater, and Daniel Moi running a tea factory. That is only to make you understand why the Mau eviction is closer to their hearts, than any other eviction of encroachers on government land has ever been. Yet, I leave that to people with greater wisdom than me; else, I will delve deeper into it, as we walk the Mau trail, for this is a long trek.
Mau evictions have flipped our politicians, giving us a view of their “other sides.” Some have displayed a nuance of determination, which borders on ruthlessness. Others have shown a great capacity to “identify” with the people. Yet others have been too personally affected, to let their guard down. Their reactions pass for poor melodrama; a clear indication that they are so withdrawn from reality, which the skits their advisors have worked on for ages, fail to impress.
Granted, there are humanitarian violations in the Mau eviction process, but not the eviction decision. This is a process that would rather be handled in the most humane way possible. This cannot be made the partisan political grit of the day, we as a people, can do better.
What we must establish is, whether the families camping by the roadside left their home districts, with mischievous intent to inhabit forest reserve unlawfully. We must also know what the government of the day did to encourage, or discourage the settlements. Thereafter, we can make informed decisions. That notwithstanding, some evictees have confessed to having sold their lands, and used all the money, before moving to settle in the Mau. That is reckless. It also indicates that some of these evictees are first generation settlers, and will have no problem tracing their ancestral homes. It will serve Kenya well to discourage usage of taxpayers’ money, in a manner reminiscent of “collective losses and individualized gains.”
This leaves a seemingly clear path to a lasting solution. Or does it?
The major complication in the whole Mau imbroglio is the vested interests. There are individuals involved in unlawful profit making in this water catchment, and are using the hapless poor of Mau as a smokescreen, to disguise their heavy commercial activities – rarely does peasant activity devastate the environment so fast. To say the least, all the sympathy, from the politicians towards the evictees, is a case of Mau being the “convenient” leveler, stewing the wealthy, and the poor in the same pot. For the first time ever, the landlords and squatters share a plight; in the Mau land loss.
The threat by a section of Members of Parliament (MPs), to ask some evictees to troop back to the forest was obviously to help the MPs, who hold thousands of hectares; get back their land. If indeed our legislators were genuinely up in arms for the well being of the people, we would have witnessed the same, during Mount Kenya evictions, Mount Elgon evictions, as well as Embobut evictions; and not only that, the same hue and cry would have rented our broadcasting space, during the road-reserve-encroachment evictions. However, during these preceding operations, there was a conspiracy of silence among politicians.
The sarcasm in these crocodile tears that MPs have shed from the roadsides in the Mau ranges to Nairobi hotels, lies in Kenyatta and Gideon Moi. The Kshs 350,000 Kenyatta contributed during the fund raising, equates to the value of trees his mean machine fells in the Mau every five minutes, and this has been going on for a long time. If Kenyatta truly identifies with the misfortune of the evictees, and wants to help them, he has the wherewithal to settle them in one of “his” many parcels of land, and the same applies to younger Moi.
The sad side of all this is that, these politicians do not want to face reality. Mau has to be conserved, and to keep good constitutional order, the government should not reward unlawful encroachment. The league of politicians is akin to vultures, always hawk-eyed, scouting for carcasses, and their new-found carcass is the Mau, and boy! Aren’t they scavenging?
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The Article by Mr. Oluoch deserves praise aplause. Kenya Politicians have been taking Kenyans for a ride for too long now. Every time an election draws closer, they form coalitions which blindfold Kenyans eyes forcing them to easily forget past attrocities committed to them. Some of the current politicians pretending to have concern for Kenyans were the same individuals who killed many Kenyans all over Kenya in the name of YK92 in the 80s. In the same name they also kept destroying Kiosks of innocent Kenyans, leaving them without any livelihood. In the same name, YK92, the same people organized for the deaths of more than 800 Kenyans in 1991. YK92 was also responsible for the death of the Student leader, Mr. Muruli who was killed by a Bomb that was planted in his dom at the Nairobi University in mid 80s. These are the same guys trying to form a coalition to lead Kenyans by 2012. Pretending to be good samaritans, they are fundraising money for the evicted Mau settlers. Where were they when thousands of Kenyans were evicted from various Forest Stations in Mau in 1985? Where were they when thousands of Kenyans were evicted in the heinous destruction of the Muoroto slams in Nairobi in the 80s, when bulldozers were used by the YK92 to flatten the Muoroto slams at 3AM when children and mothers were asleep, leaving many dead?. Where have they been to help thousands of Kenyans left disabled and homeless after the Post Election Violence? Why does Hon. Uhuru Kenyatta, Hon. William Ruto and Hon. Kalonzo Musyoka consider those evicted in Mau more important than the Post election Victims? Why did Hon. Uhuru Kenyatta decide to make capital out of the land his father grabbed, by selling it to the Government for the ressettlement of the Post election Victims, instead of releasing the land to the victims with the same ease his dad got it?. Who among the three has shown any concerns over the Post election Victims? Who among the three has shown some concern over the Mau Water catchments? No one should make any political capital at the expence of the suffering of the Kenyan people or at the expence of the destruction of Kenya. As I mentioned earlier in a certain article, before those evicted from the Mau forest are compensated, those evicted from the same areas in 1985, those evicted from their farms in 1991 and the Post election victims, should be compensated first. Kenyans should learn to elect transparent, honest and wise individuals in future in order to avoid the political mess in Kenya, which has resulted into suffering of Kenyans.
Isaac Newton Kinity
The response about shows how selective truth hurts the country.
Newton Kitiny fails to acknowledge that Mau was made a political issue by Raila after their fall out with Kibaki. During initial evictions, Raila ganged up with RV leaders and told the settlers to stay put. The same message was passed during the referendum and Raila is on record telling Mau people during 2007 presidential campaigns that his governhment will not evict them. That is the truth.
Something else that the author fails to mention is that Raila and the larger govt has always known who the big thieves of Mau are. However, that did not stop Raila to form convenient political coalition when he was desperate for Kalenjin votes. he even appointed the thieves to public offices. When Raila now stands on a podium and tells us that thieves are making noise, that frogs do not make a cow fail to drink water from a river, we wonder who the real CHEAT is.
And why doesnt Raila in the same spirit of reclaiming stolen public land surrender Molasses land, malindi squatters land and other land mentioned by Ndungu report that his father illegally acquired during independence??
Emkei
Emkei,
The heading of this story clearly states “Mau…….,” implying the writer is discussing the Mau, its status, and the debate surrounding the Mau. Your input here looks hell-bent to derail the debate. Wait for a topic like “Land Grabbers……” then raise your point. Can we stay relevant for once?