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Senior
cabinet minister protests destruction of Mau Forest
by John Kamau,
Rights Features Service
(February
5, 2001) A senior cabinet minister protested the continued destruction
of Mau Forest and demanded the revocation of all illegal allocations.
In an indication
that the ongoing campaign to save Mau Forest is gaining strength,
the minister in the Office of the President, William ole Ntimama,
made a public protest that the Maasai
community are on the verge of losing part of the Mau Forest
to land grabbers.
Speaking
to a large multitude at Lafit Trading Centre deep in Maasai country,
the minister warned that from "now on, I will not keep quiet."
The pastoral
Maasai regard the expansive Mau Forest, also home to the Ogiek
indigenous group, as their cultural heritage. Its destruction
would mean a great loss to the community because it is the source
of water and grass for their animals during the dry season.
The Office
of the President minister accused civic leaders at the Narok District
Council of grabbing large sections of the forest land belonging
to Olkurto and Olposimoru residents. Narok District borders the
southern section of the Mau.
He said that
the councillors had sanctioned the theft of Maasai trust land
along the Mau Forest and that each councillor had been allocated
100 acres of the forest land.
"We demand
the transfer of district land registrar who has completely messed
up the land registration in the whole district," said Ntimama.
He described
the registrar as the "most corrupt civil servant in the district"
and accused non-Maasai officers serving in the district of "serving
the interests of their kinsmen by transacting illegal land deals."
"One thing
I will not do is to keep quiet," said the minister. "The councillors
do not own the Trust Land, it belongs to the community and the
council only holds it in trust."
The minister
said he would continue to oppose the destruction of the forest
which he said is the livelihood of the pastoral Maasai.
"Do these
people expect me to say Hallelujah when they are interfering with
a livelihood. I can't. If they expect that, then they do not know
me," the minister warned.
The minister
accused the government's ministry of lands of delaying the issuance
of title deeds to the Maasai, whose land is also being decimated
by unscrupulous individuals.
Senior government
officials have been accused of being behind the illegal allocations.
This is the first time that a clear division at the top appears
to be noticed with a senior cabinet official breaking ranks.
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