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Land for loyalty?
Darren Taylor, Nairobi
31 October 2005 07:59
Kenyan President
Mwai Kibaki has allocated thousands of title deeds for land
in a move his opponents say is an attempt to “bribe”
voters to support a controversial draft constitution in a
November 21 referendum.
Environmentalists charge that the “illegal dishing out of
land” spells “ecological disaster” for a country
lauded internationally for its stringent legislation to
protect wildlife.
The poll is regarded as the biggest test yet of Kibaki’s
leadership -- now in its third year following Kenyans’
rejection in 2002 of Daniel arap Moi’s 25-year autocratic
rule. The run-up, though, has been marred by violence, with
supporters of the “yes” and “no” camps clashing
frequently. |
A Samburu herdsman in the
Rift Valley. How will he vote? (Photograph: AP)
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Kibaki has urged voters to support
the draft, which he says is “liberal” with clauses empowering
women and guaranteeing freedom of information. But his critics
claim an affirmation of the document will open the door for
renewed dictatorship.
The draft grants sweeping executive powers to the president. The
issue has split the country and its ruling National Rainbow
Coalition government along ethnic lines.
Kibaki recently granted thousands of title deeds to landless
ethnic groups in the Rift Valley, a region perceived as remaining
loyal to Moi and distrustful of Kibaki’s Kikuyu elite, the
ethnic majority in Kenya. Moi has encouraged Kenyans to oppose the
draft constitution. Rift Valley contains the highest concentration,
2,4-million, of the 11,5-million registered voters.
Kibaki ignored a court order aimed at preventing him from
allocating land and distributed 12 000 title deeds to the Ogiek
tribe. He also announced the “resettlement” of the Mau Forest.
In April, he faced criticism when he ordered the police and army
to forcibly remove 10 000 people, mainly from the Kalenjin ethnic
group, from the area.
Security forces assaulted inhabitants and razed property. The
government said the action was justified because the Kalenjin were
destroying one of the country’s last-surviving natural forests.
But the tribe regarded it as proof of “victimisation” for
their continued allegiance to Moi, himself a Kalenjin elder.
A campaign against Kibaki flared in the Rift Valley. Land Minister
Amos Kimunya, one of Kibaki’s key allies, defied another court
order to remove thousands of people who had settled illegally on
Rift Valley ranches. He told squatters gathered on one such farm:
“The government will not execute the court ruling. You’d
better start cultivating the farm.”
In another decision, Kibaki ceded control of the world-famous
Amboseli National Park, with its spectacular views of Kilimanjaro
and an elephant herd that is subject to intensive study by
international researchers, to a group of local Maasai. Maasai
leaders, including MPs and a Cabinet minister, have advised their
ethnic kin to vote against the draft constitution.
Kibaki has also announced his intention to give land to
communities in Coast Province, where Islam is the dominant
religion. Muslim leaders have been encouraging a “no” vote.
Ironically, both Moi and Kenya’s founding president, Jomo
Kenyatta, used land gifts to entrench their power. But Kibaki has
insisted that “every Kenyan has the right to own land” and
that, rather than “bribing” voters, he is correcting
“historical injustices”.
Politicking aside, conservationists warn that the land allocations
will have “serious and negative consequences” for Kenya,
globally renowned for its efforts to combat poaching. Since
Moi’s “war” on poachers in the 1980s, wildlife numbers have
grown significantly and near-extinct ecosystems have rebounded.
All this, say environmentalists, is in danger of being sacrificed
on the altar of political expediency as Kibaki seeks to cling to
power.
Kibaki’s sudden desire to grant title deeds has sparked demands
for land across the country from ethnic groups who claim to have
been dispossessed. Martin Ngatia, who leads a group opposed to
Kibaki, predicted: “The president has started to roll a wheel he
will not be able to control.”
SOURCE
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