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Kenyan
president a beneficiary of Ogiek land, claims newspaper
by John Kamau, Rights Features Service
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Go
to www.ogiek.org and
take action online to support the Ogiek's search for justice.
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(January 23, 2002)
Less than a month before the Ogiek case comes up at the Kenyan
High Court, some members of Kenya's parliament have asked the
president to reconvene parliament immediately to discuss the allocations
of Kenya forests.
This comes in the wake
of a disclosure by a leading Kenyan newspaper that President Daniel
arap Moi is one of the beneficiaries of the Mau Forest land, where
the Ogiek reside.
The Ogiek, a Kenyan
indigenous people, are fighting to remain in the forest, which
they claim is their ancestral home. The government is forcing
them out, allegedly to protect the environment. But the Ogiek
pose no environmental threat. Their case will be heard in court
on February 21, 2002.
Officials accused
of alloting land for themselves
The Kenyan Daily
Nation recently disclosed that they had acquired Ministry
documents which revealed that prominent individuals had received
allocations of forest land.
The list of beneficiaries
reads like a "who's who" of Kenyan politics: President
Moi allegedly received 2,317 acres; environemntal minister Joseph
Kamotho received 6 acres; former First Lady Mama Ngina Kenyatta
received 82.5 acres; and political activist Kuria Kanyingi got
24 acres.
According to the Daily
Nation, this current attempt by the government to excise
an estimated 167,000 acres of forest was a belated attempt to
legitimize illegal allocations ahead of the enactment of a more
stringent Forest Bill. The bill gives parliament the right to
sanction alterations of forest boundaries, and is expected to
be published and debated during the next parliamentary session.
| Those
who will benefit from the seizure of Ogiek land "reads
like a 'who's who' of Kenyan politics." |
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"Now that it is
evident that the whole Government, including the head of executive,
is involved in the whole saga, they should apologize to Kenyans
and resign in shame. This is the climax of all the evils that
could have been done in this country'' says Mwangi Kiunjuri, an
MP who took a motion to parliament last year calling on the government
to protect forest land.
Legislator Wanyiri
Kihoro has proposed that the next government should recover all
the land and restore it to forest irrespective of who had bought
it.
"The government
has been justifying degazettement of forest land on the basis
that squatters will be settled on it. But it is a pity that the
land has gone to some of the largest landowners in the country,"
said Kihoro.
It is not clear whether
Moi will reconvene parliament before March but the current revelations
will no doubt resurface at the House.
Environmentalists
angered
Elsewhere, environmentalists
are annoyed that senior government officials and politically correct
individuals are the beneficiaries of the forest land allocations,
and that the so-called "landless and squatters" happen
to be the richest people in Kenya.
In a statement released
from parliament building, the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture,
Land, Environment and Natural Resources, asked President Daniel
arap Moi to reconvene parliament before March to resolve the problem.
"We want the House
recalled immediately to discuss this urgent business because even
before we went on recess, we had planned to overfly all the forests
to verify the facts from the grounds, whether or not excision
was taking place and its extent,'' said the Committee.
Kenya's Environment
Minister Joseph Kamotho, has declined to comment on the continuing
logging and destruction of forests, especially in the Mau Forest
where the Ogiek community might lose their home bases if the forest
is cleared. The government has—through a gazette notice—threatened
to excise some 70 percent of the Mau Forest to "settle the
landless" but the Ogiek see it as an invasion of their traditional
hunting grounds.
Meanwhile, members
of the Ogiek community took to the streets this week to demonstrate
their anger over the continued destruction of Mau Forest, a matter
that has dominated local media for the best part of this week.
They blocked the road
leading to the forest but were dispersed by police.
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