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Tuesday, March
2, 2004
Bomas must consider Ogiek land
rights
By Magdalene Nkando
Since it took office a year ago,
the Narc Government has been on a marathon race transforming the
various development structures, institutions and processes to
revive the economy.
There has been progress in the
country’s development, but for the Ogiek community, there has
been very little, if any, opportunity to share in Narc’s
initiatives.
The Ogiek is a community of about
25,000 people, scattered in various parts of East Africa, with the
majority living in Nakuru District.
Over the years, the Ogiek have
faced discrimination, particularly on their land rights. In many
occasions, they have been threatened with eviction from forests
where they have always hunted and gathered the wild for their
food. These evictions have been pegged on the pretext of
conservation and development of settlement schemes only for the
same area to be allocated to the "politically correct" a
few years later.
The Ogiek have a long history of
resistance that has sustained their unity, identity and cultural
distinction.
Lately, however, more than at any
other time in history, the very existence of the Ogiek as a
distinct people has come under threat.
Apart from the excision of large
chunks of land from their forest homes, the Minister for
Environment, Natural Resources and Wildlife, Dr Newton Kulundu,
has issued an eviction notice to all forest dwellers effective
from March 31, 2004.
The Ogiek have not known any other
home for centuries. They have occupied the forest since time
immemorial and are customarily entitled to it.
Pointlessly, the Ogiek have been
blamed for the massive destruction of the forest leading to loss
of indigenous trees in Southern Mau, Maasai Mau and Enoosupukia.
It’s pointless because the real culprits are known.
Political influence has a major
stake in the devastation of forests through illegal allocations
and farming on hilltops, on mountains and catchment areas.
Improper legislation on forestry has enhanced grabbing of prime
forest areas, encroachment through human settlement, charcoal
burning and illegal logging. On the contrary, the Ogiek are the
main conservators of forests because this is their only home.
The notice comes in the wake of the
Government’s plan to re-settle squatters countrywide. The irony
is that families evicted from their forest homes will find their
way to the roadsides, thus, will increase the already swelling
numbers of squatters. This is an indication that even within Narc,
ministries have not harmonised their activities. While Amos
Kimunya, minister for lands and settlement, grapples with the
swelling numbers of squatters, Kulundu is working to create more
squatters. Thanks to the scattered policies on land and other
natural resources that are loaded with sectoral interests.
As the MPs plan to table a Forest
Bill when Parliament resumes, they should not only concentrate on
the diminishing forest cover but also the people who derive their
livelihoods directly and entirely from forests.
For instance, with the Ogiek being
the age-old conservators of the forests they reside in, the
Government should be thinking of nothing less than providing them
with improved beehives and education on bee-keeping to enhance
their main economic activity. Driving them from their forest
dwelling is like removing fish from water.
With the option of employing people
to plant trees being an expensive process, the Government should
settle on retaining the Ogiek in forests as they require no
training in conservation. They have been in these forests for
years and have co-existed with fauna and flora without a hitch.
All they need is a supply of tree seedlings and some education on
modem tree planting methods. This will not only trim the
re-afforestation budget but will also assure the Ogiek of a home.
Despite 40 years of independence,
the Ogiek have nothing to celebrate. Lamenting that they are in an
island outside Kenya, the Ogiek living in Nkareta, Mau Forest in
Narok, have made a "religious" decision that they will
never move out of the Mau Forest, even if it means losing their
lives.
They have challenged the Government
to either sort out the Ogiek land problems or go to the forest and
shoot them.
Equal access to and full enjoy-
ment of social rights is a far-fetched dream for the Ogiek.
Throughout the period of colonialism, independence and the present
government, the Ogiek have been perceived as barbaric.
The State has continued to sanction
a series of efforts to dispossess them of their land besides
seeking to exterminate them through constant evictions and
disruption of their traditional lifestyles. During the past regime,
the State successfully used the provincial administration as
agents of conquest through violation of the Ogiek civil liberties
such as denial of democratic processes, coupled with legal,
economic and cultural persecutions.
A challenge to the Government,
therefore, should be to embrace social equity in its development
paradigm as a vehicle to ensure that the poor and disadvantaged
receive special attention as the country treads the road to
economic recovery.
Over the years, Kenya’s economy
has had a political manifestation with all vital resources being
vested in the politicians. Time is ripe to give the economy back
to the people. Only this way, we can boast of our democracy that
is increasingly being acknowledged worldwide.
If we are committed to the
Millennium Develop- ment Goals, for which Kenya is signatory, we
should refrain from making sweeping statements that are
reminiscent of the old Kanu ways. Thinking of reducing poverty by
half by 2015 while rendering some Kenyans homeless is ridiculous.
The legislators should not be so excited about accountability and
efficiency in dispensing public services such that they forget the
simple fact that broad improvements in human welfare cannot occur
in the face of inequitable distribution of resources.
While we may concur that reforms
are a prerequisite to poverty reduction, Kenya lacks effective
policies and institutions to guide the implementation of these
reforms.
With the injustices being meted out
to the Ogiek, anyone would be forgiven to doubt Kenya’s
democratising process. According to the custodians of language,
democracy is based on equality of people and respect for human
rights. It embodies participatory decision-making and equitable
use and control of resources. Yet, the Ogiek are not considered a
people in this country under any known legal regime, but are
famous to the State as lawless trespassers and poachers.
The many land commissions appointed
to seek justice in land adjudication processes have deliberately
distanced themselves from the Ogiek land rights. For instance,
despite the massive grabbing of the Mau Forest in Narok, the
Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Illegal and Irregular
Allocation of Public Land have made no efforts to make their
existence felt in the area.
*The writer is Network Editor,
Kenya Land Alliance.
Link : http://www.eastandard.net/archives/March/tue02032004/commentaries/column/col01.htm
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