Blood, tears and death all for a piece of land, is it worth the pain?

Tana River Clashes

Blood, tears and death. This is the agony the battle for land has brought Kenyans – rich and poor, in rural as well as urban settings – over the last few months.

It is a sad tale of power politics, raw greed and splashing of money, culminating in bloody killings as players in this dirty and shameful game pull out all the stops to clinch the top prize – land.

The festering story of land grabbing, whose key architects are often influential politicians and moneyed business people, has left in its trail blood and death in Lamu, Tana River and Mau Narok, and knocked at the doors of Nairobi’s Karen area. The Nairobi tale is still fresh and one can only hope there will be no bloodletting. 

Recent claims by senators Bonni Khalwale (Kakamega), Johnstone Muthama (Machakos) and Elizabeth Ongoro (Nominated) and Suna East MP Junnet Muhammed, linking senior government officials to the grabbing of the 134 acres in Karen estimated to be worth Sh8 billion, have particularly rattled President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration.

Yesterday, The Standard On Sunday obtained a copy of a letter from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), summoning the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) allied senators Muthama and James Orengo (Siaya) to appear before it by Wednesday (October 22) to give evidence of their claims. Curiously, the letter, which has already been dispatched, is dated October 21, 2014.

EACC’s move follows President Kenyatta’s warning to Opposition politicians on Friday against inciting Kenyans by making what he termed “unsubstantiated corruption allegations” touching on senior officials in his government.

“I want to caution some of the leaders to do their homework well before making reckless statements and naming people, linking them to scandals. If you incite Kenyans, know that the law will take its course,” Uhuru said during the launch of the Olkaria IV Energy Plant.

A presidential adviser has divulged to The Standard On Sunday that the President summoned Lands Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu last week, demanding answers to the Karen land saga. Following the demands, Ngilu called the EACC to investigate the matter.

Legal redress

Ngilu is among the senior government officials that CORD leaders alleged to have benefitted from the Karen land allocation, alongside Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero, Inspector General David Kimaiyo, Criminal Investigations Department Director Muhoro Ndegwa, Nairobi Senator Mike Sonko and Ngilu’s personal assistant, James Mbaluka.

The officials have all dismissed the allegations, with some threatening to seek legal redress over the unsubstantiated claims.

Ngilu claimed the allegations were diversionary tactics from individuals trying to hide their “dubious past”.

“As a ministry, I can confidently say all precautions are being taken to ensure land grabbing comes to an end. These elected leaders are playing party politics... One of them gave out a whole county during his tenure in the name of community ranches and my ministry has given evidence in this light. Why are they not giving evidence with regard to their allegations? All they have said are lies and they are taking pride in soiling people’s names,” she said.

And in a statement to newsrooms, State House Spokesperson Manoah Esipisu affirmed that the President and his deputy were “firm and unwavering believers in the rule of law”.

“The Karen land question is now an issue before the courts. Consequently, the President and Deputy President fully expect this process to be allowed to go the full course. Should the EACC find anyone – including public officers – to have been responsible for fraud, or abetted fraud in the case, then, of course, they will face the consequences set out by the law,” Esipisu said.

If true, the Karen land saga would be a major letdown to the Uhuru administration, whose ratings, according to the latest opinion poll by Synovate, were on a rise this past week.

The land question has over the years proved a hot potato that has caused bloodshed and mass killings. Only recently, a herdsman at the controversial Muthera Farm in Mau Narok, associated with the family of the late powerful Cabinet Minister Mbiyu Koinange, joined the list of those who have been slain over the same piece land. 

Katoine ole Keshe died after he was shot with a poisoned arrow by people suspected to be from the 4,923-acre farm.

Members of the Maasai community have been engaged in a long and bitter dispute over the ownership of the farm with the family of the late minister, who was an influential member of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta’s Cabinet.

This dispute has led to a chain of killings, including that of land rights activist Moses ole Mpoe and Paarsayia ole Kitu, who were shot in their vehicle in 2010.

The Maasai community claims that their land was grabbed by powerful individuals in the late Kenyatta’s administration. Then Heritage Minister William ole Ntimama was the first to raise the red flag when he contested the resettling of internally displaced persons at Rose Farm in 2011. 

And in June, this year, more than 90 people were killed in Lamu County following attacks in Mpeketoni, Malamande, Panda Nguo, Witu and Hindi villages.

While the Al Shabaab claimed responsibility, initial investigations by relevant government agencies attributed the killings to the perennial land question in the coastal region.

Since then, security officers have been investigating businesspeople and political leaders thought to have been eyeing prime land in Lamu.

Also in the coastal region, in Tana River, 139 people were killed in 2012 in two raids, the second being a revenge attack among rival communities.

The revenge attack by Pokomo farmers on an Orma village, Kipao, claimed 39 lives. It was retaliatory action for the killing of more than 100 villagers by Orma pastoralists. There have been historic tensions between the two communities, over land and access to water.

But, perhaps, the biggest indictment on Government over land would be the case of retired Judge Benna Lutta, who was awarded Sh883 million by the High Court on Friday.

Lutta had sued the Government for failing to evict people who forcefully grabbed his 1,756 acres of land in 1983. The Government had built a school and other public facilities on the property.

When Lutta protested to officials in the last government, then Lands Minister James Orengo acknowledged the anomaly. The same was communicated to the complainant by then Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who advised then Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta to act.

The Finance minister agreed to pay after evaluation, but this was not conducted fast enough, and the matter has come back to haunt Uhuru’s own government.