At least Vice President Kalonzo, Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto are being consistent about their resolution of the Mau forest conundrum. I wonder if any of us remember what our positions were at the 2005 pre-referendum expulsions when then Environment Minister Amos Kimunya was talking about title deeds being mere pieces of paper. This is how the Rift Valley was lost to Kibaki, and it was then pushed as a human rights issue. No wonder the poor people of the Rift Valley feel betrayed now that their rights are not seen as worthy of defence. The Prime Minister then lionised for standing up for their rights, is now similarly elevated for being blind to those very rights.
It is clear now that the chorus of condemnation of the Mau squatters, and the enduring absence of empathy for them in the face of the humiliation and suffering they are met with at the hands of their government is a symptom of a wider societal illness, something we must contend with as we make efforts to usher in a new order with the new constitution. A recent KTN poll had 70% of respondents declaring that the government was not being unfair to the evictees. This mere minutes after the same channel showed images of peasants drenched in pouring rain, women and children cowering under blankets, their crops left open to destruction by wildlife.
The pointy fingers and raised voices miss a number of important points. Landlessness is an undeniable fact of life for many Kenyans with no choice but to lead agrarian lives. Similarly compelling realities are population growth and diminishing returns from already cultivated land. Fundamentally, these people, fellow citizens of ours are not idle criminals, they are Kenyans trying to make a living, trying to survive in an environment where our history precludes certain life choices open to those of us privileged enough to restrict our view of property and other human rights to those posessing legal title to land.
The tragedy of this country, that which I believe we must first contend before any meanignful reform, is that we only pay lip service to our laws, and to human rights. Only when it is convenient do we pipe up in defence of the weak and lowly, which is why the human rights industry has found more important work to do at this minute than defend the Mau peasants.
That said, I was encouraged to see some articles in the Sunday papers that made clear that respecting the human rights of the squatters and settlers, does not mean tolerating continued destruction of the forest.
But back to the environment, and this especially with an eye on Copenhagen this week. As everyone in the developing world looks to China, the USA and Europe for leadership, we need soon to see true leadership on this, on a local level too. As we condemn the destruction of vital elements of our ecosystem, we must also do something about our wasteful national culture and our excessive energy demands. A recent television report from KTN had our energy production from thermal fossil-fuel dependent sources, equivalent to our production from hydroelectric sources. With Copenhagen dominating the headlines, it is exigent that we think a little more about personal responsibility in the effort to clean up the earth and conserve vital components of it for the future. Even as the politicians attempt the big picture, the success of Copenhagen depends not on waiting on others to move, but on showing initiative ourselves, making a difference, each of us in our small ways.
With our voracious carnivorous appetite, our excessive zeal for collecting plastic rubbish and electronic toys (product list runs from polyester underwear to dildoes), the lack of an effective recycling and waste disposal culture, the desire for South African citrus (and every other kind of exotic and needless import), our excessively thirsty floriculture industry, our demand for cheap fuel, cheap parking and ever more private vehicles, our urban sprawl and our endless bingeing on soil destroying mono-cultures that demand ever more fertiliser; I doubt we have the moral case to demonise poor people eking out a living from mastering the soil. The effect of these, wasteful elements of our way of life, is many times more destructive than the settlement of the Mau.
Sure, Cheruiyot, Mwaita ought to be dispossesed and I am sure the courts can quickly order this carried out but there is a very different case to be made for desperate peasants who are victims of population pressure, climate change, an irresponsible state and their local leadership.
P.S. Is it not interesting how civil society types have now realised that these chaps are criminals? Wonder when they get to remember the same thing about people like Ntimama (whose foul genocidal words Wangari Maathai feels happy to quote now) and Raila Odinga who is peerless in the abuse of power and violence for political advancement and the accretion of wealth .
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Nice piece but it is a bit allover the place. What is it about? Mau, Ruto, Copenhagen?
My take, Ruto and gang are pretenders they are shedding crocodile tears to cover something deeper than just Mau. The whole gang is in the KNHRC list, Hague is beckoning, they are just trying to get sympathy but from the wrong place and issue. Meanwhile, I dont think the Mau crisis says anything about the entire Kenyan populace but just Ruto and the Hague express gang.