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Government Forest Plan Riles
Native Kenyans
Wednesday October 31, 2001, 04:29
PM EST
By Alison Raphael, OneWorld.net
Indigenous Kenyans are crying foul
in response to a surprise government move to reclassify more than
170,000 acres of public forest land for private use.
The government of President Daniel
arap Moi announced this week that it will reclassify the land,
despite a court case brought by the Ogiek community scheduled for
a hearing November 21.Professor Wangari Maathai, an
environmentalist working with Kenya's Greenbelt Movement, called
the government agencies involved with the land deal "greedy
and corrupt." The decision to privatize the forest, she said,
confirms that "the leadership in the Ministry of Environment
and Natural Resources is very irresponsible."Most of the land
in question is located in the Mau Forest of Kenya's Great Rift
Valley. The Ogiek people who live in the forest have been fighting
government moves to deprive them of their home and cultural
heritage since February. But their court case has been postponed
several times and they have been under pressure from provincial
authorities to drop it.In mid-October the Ogiek Welfare Council,
the key complainant in the court case, claimed that members of the
community had received threats for continuing with the case. An
Ogiek elder reportedly told the authorities that "no amount
of intimidation will deter us from demanding our God-given right
within the constitution."The Greenbelt Movement filed a
separate suit but their file went missing from the High Court,
according to Professor Maathai. She and others accuse the
government of using public land to reward political
favors.Environmentalists are concerned because the Mau forest is
home to endangered species such as the Bongo, as well as several
rare primate species. It is a also the catchment area for some of
Kenya's largest rivers.An opposition deputy is urging Kenyans to
resist the government plan. "They should organize themselves
and...physically eject surveyors and allottees," said Paul
Muite.Earlier this month an unfavorable High Court ruling on a
similar case opened the way for the government's actions this week
which some fear could fuel a more bloody conflict in Kenya over
land, indigenous rights, and environmental protection.
Link : www.oneworld.net/link/gotolink/addhit/2969
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