News 2005

PRESIDENT Mwai Kibaki yesterday said that his government would not hunt for individuals who might have committed human rights injustices in the past.

The Head of State said this as it was announced that he would today issue title deeds to more than 20,000 families evicted from the Mau and other forests in Rift Valley province.

The Head of State’s announcement appeared to shatter calls for the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He, however said that those willing to pursue injustice visited against them either by government agents or individuals were at liberty to do so as individuals.

The government, he said, would ensure justice was done to all Kenyans seeking reprieve through lawfully established courts of law and would not use the Wako Draft to target any particular community.

At the same time, the head of state said he was tired, angry and ‘‘disenchanted’’ with leaders who were peddling ‘‘deliberate’’ falsehoods and misinterpretations in the Draft Constitution, saying the move reeked of political ‘‘irresponsibility’’ and ‘‘immaturity’’.

‘‘The Kalenjins should rest assured that this government has no designs to target any individual on the basis of tribe, political or regional inclination.

The government is determined to ensure that justice, law and order prevails in all corners of the county”, he said.

The beneficiaries of what has been called the Government’s referendum giveaway will include 12,000 Ogiek families who were evicted from Tinet Forest.

A statement from the Presidential Press Service (PPS) last evening stated that the Head of State, who is on a three-day official visit in Nakuru, would address a public rally and issue the title deeds at Olenguruone DO’s office.

On Sunday, the President will attend a church service and later address a public rally at Molo Stadium in Nakuru district, said the statement.

Yesterday, President Kibaki assured that the government respects the sanctity of private property and had no intention of repossessing private land.

The President dismissed, as idle talk, rumours that the government would repossess private land in Rift Valley Province under the proposed new constitution.

President Kibaki was speaking at State House Nakuru when he addressed a delegation of leaders from the Kipsigis community who called on him.

“I would like to emphasise here that contrary to the rumours, the government will continue to protect all private land including those who bought it in the Rift Valley Province,” he added.

The President said the recent evictions of forest land dwellers in the province was meant to protect water catchments, adding that those affected would be resettled now that clearly defined boundaries between forests and settlement areas had been demarcated.

President Kibaki asked wananchi in the area and elsewhere in the country to work hard on their farms, saying they should not be distracted from the noble course of contributing to the country’s food security by idle talk.

The Head of State gave the assurance that the government had no intention of scrapping the newly created districts.

He said the government recognised all the existing districts in the country as legal administrative entities. Said the President, “Those politicising the issue were politically bankrupt and must be challenged to say where they obtained such misleading information.” The President said that the Government would continue to subdivide large districts to bring government services closer to the people.

The delegation assured President Kibaki that the Kipsigis community supported the proposed new constitution and would vote Yes during the forthcoming referendum.

Leaders who spoke at the function rejected those bent on peddling lies to gain political

Present were ministers John Koech,Kipruto arap Kirwa, Musikari Kombo,John Michuki,Amos Kimunya and Prof. George Saitoti. Others were Assistant Ministers Kipkalia Kones, Alicen Chelaite and Stepehen Tarus and MP Moses Cheboi.

The families in the Mau and other indigenous forests were uprooted from their lands and their houses torched by security officers early in the year to protect water catchment areas and to preserve forests.

Yes campaign strategists believe the Mau evictions had embittered Rift Valley politicians and hardened their resolve and that of their supporters on the referendum.

Already senior politicians, such as nominated MP Kipkalya Kones, have vowed they would not vote “Yes” unless the Mau families are resettled.

The harshest criticism of the Government’s action has so far come from the Kanu leadership, especially by chairman Uhuru Kenyatta, Secretary-General William Ruto and Executive Officer Julius Sunkuli.

It is also expected that the resettlement would later be extended to benefit those kicked out of the Mount Kenya, Aberdares, Marmanet and Mount Elgon forests.

Sources at the Ministry of Lands revealed that a list of 10,000 people who bought land in the Mau Forest during the last regime, and whose titles Kimunya revoked, had been listed for resettlement.

The resettlement process is a turning point for a Government that dispatched security forces to flatten homes, schools and churches.

Those affected are mainly from the Kalenjin and Maasai communities whose leaders are campaigning for a No vote in the referendum.

Late last month, the Government rescinded a ban on demarcation of land under 2.5 acres and down graded Amboseli National Park to a game reserve under the management of the Ole-Kejuado County Council.

Both decisions, which appeared aimed at benefiting small-scale landowners and the Maasai, have been seen as calculated to win support for the referendum.

The Mau evictions are thought to have estranged the Government from the Kalenjin community that was beginning to warm up to Mr Nicholas Biwott’s informal cooperation with President Kibaki.

But even after Internal Security Minister John Michuki named an 18-member team to investigate the legality of the evictions in July, the community has remained bitter with the Government.

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