COMMUNIA Workshop, Vilnius, March 31, 2008: Debate of Questionable Practices
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Eric Wanjamah
- Male
- Gothenburg
- Sweden
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- I will attend the March 31, 2008 free workshop in Vilnius, Lithuania
- Yes
- I will write a one page statement for the debate
- Yes
- Issues that I am interested to debate:
- Equality and Justice
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About you? We have really lost touch.
Am okey.
I would like to hear from you.
I met Theresa whom I guess you are also acquainted to among a host of other participants at the debates.
Will you be studying at Uppsala? am in Gothenburg which about 8 hrs by bus from Stockholm.
More later...Eric
Thanks, lets keep in touch.
Mina
What are you doing actively to go against this issues? I am coming to Sweden in August to study nearby Stockholm for one whole year...
Greets, Mina
When the British arrived in Kenya in the 1800’s they were missionaries coming to spread the good word, the indigenous people however, had their own religion and ways of worship. As the First President would later observe, the missionaries had the bible in their hand and they asked us to pray, we closed our eyes and when we opened them, we had the bible and they had the land. As the British colonialists settled, they needed land, fertile land to practice large scale farming. They moved the local people from their ancestral land to areas like the Rift valley, these people eventually settled in these places permanently. However, the places they settled had their rightful owners which they considered their ancestral place. This would set the stage for the never ending ethnic animosity characterized by burning of each other’s houses because certain communities feel that foreigners should go back to their ancestral land.
The struggle for independence climaxed in 1963 when the British were defeated and Kenya gained independence. The settlers left and as they went, huge chunks of land were left to their loyalists without regard to the wishes of the local communities. Land continued to be distributed to those perceived as close to the powers that be, it was a form of reward to those who danced to the tune of the ruling class. This has to date resulted in some people owning thousands of acres of land while others are squatters.
Recently, Kenya experienced post election violence which many people attributed to the existing inequalities. Animosity has been brewing against specific ethnic groups that are perceived to be wealthy and dominating business and politics in Kenya. Some analysts have argued that the powers that be are willing to sacrifice anything that will make sure that they retain power. This is because they stand to lose a lot of wealth in the event that justice is done.
Numerous commissions have been set to investigate land allocation issues and the reports have never been made public. There is need for a paradigm shift within Government circles in matters relating to access to information. The public lacks knowledge that would enable it make informed choices and especially through the electoral process. The information contained in such reports would enable the electorate make informed choices. There is a blame that is always directed at the voters for being blind and not voting for the right people, the fact of the matter is that such knowledge is not in the public domain.
A few years ago, a new law was implemented that required public officers to declare their assets yearly. It was hoped that by making such declarations, public officers who had accumulated more wealth than they could have rightfully gained during their tenure, would be asked to explain how they acquired it and would be prosecuted in the event that it was acquired illegally. The anomaly with this law is that the records are confidential and not open to public scrutiny.
Corrupt deals have impoverished Kenya so much so that Kenyans cannot get access to basic facilities due to lack of public funds. To this date, some rich corrupt Kenyans have stashed colossal amounts of money in banks abroad and continue to live extravagant lives at the expense of the masses. The British Government offered to help Kenya trace the assets held abroad but Kenyan authorities have never consented to this offer.
In the struggle for justice and an equal society for all, Kenyan authorities must ensure that information that affects public opinion is in the public domain. Issues like who owns what land, why and how it was acquired are crucial. The Government commissioned reports that are gathering dust in Government offices need to be made public, as a way of creating an enlightened society. The public should know who owns what abroad and how it was acquired and if illegally, such properties should be repossessed. Since the public lacks information, there is a tendency to act on suspicion. Such suspicions turn into hatred which builds up tensions out of which conflicts are born.
To be continued…
Repossession of Grabbed Land: Why The Government Must Not Break The Law
The Kenya Human Rights Commission [KHRC] is pleased that the Government has, at last, listened to citizens' calls for the implementation of the recommendations of the Ndung'u Commission. Nevertheless, the KHRC has serious concerns on the proposed manner of repossessing what is supposedly grabbed land. Hon Kimunya's directive is a recipe for chaos; how can a government ask its citizenry to seize back land when it has all the necessary machinery in its possession to ensure that all grabbed land is returned to the rightful owners? How can a government unleash citizens against citizens when it is certain that peace, law and order will be undermined?
When the Ndung'u report was submitted to the President on July 2, 2004 , the Government asked the public to be patient as it studied the report in order to come up with structured and legal ways of repossessing all illegally and irregularly allocated land. The Minister for Lands, we all believed, would come up with a framework that would balance the various competing interests and restore land to its rightful owners without breaking the law or spilling blood. How government can now pass this crucial role to its citizenry in essence abdicating its responsibility as the governor of the public interest is simply astounding!
Additionally, although the Ndungu report has been submitted to the President, the information contained therein is not in the public domain and in essence not accessible by a majority of Kenyans. Copies of the report are only accessible to a minority few who are able to purchase the report. The Ministry of Lands must ensure that all illegally acquired land is in the public domain and is common knowledge to all. Otherwise, how will such land be repossessed if the public are not even aware of the fact?
The Kenya Human Rights Commission insists that, having formed a Commission that gulped hundreds of millions of shillings in cash, time and effort, the Government must follow the pathway charted by the Ndung'u Commission: Form a Land Titles Tribunal and use other recommended legal ways to achieve its aims.
Kimunya's directive pits citizens against one another and will:
* Set the precedent that the sanctity of title is no longer valid in Kenya .
* Violate the rule of law- that all are subject to the law;
* Lead to flagrant abuse of human rights regarding the protection of private property, equality before the law and security of the person.
* Lead to lawlessness and bloodshed as citizens use all means necessary, including violence, to enforce what they believe is their historical, ancestral, titular or just perceived right to ancestral land.
The KHRC, therefore, insists and demands that Hon Amos Kimunya rescind his directive and adhere to the law by following the options offered by the Ndung'u Commission in implementing its recommendations. Lastly, in order to avoid anarchy, Hon Kimunya should urgently make public all information on all land that is allegedly grabbed.
Since independence, a handful of politicians have stashed money in foreign bank accounts and acquired properties in these countries. The British Government has for example offered to help Kenya recover such assets, http://allafrica.com/stories/200709020013.html
However, the Kenyan Government continue to drag its foot, an indication that those in power are perhaps the worst culprits.
Recently,through an Act of Parliament, all public officers are compelled by law to declare their wealth. However, all these records are not in the public domain. There has been calls for such records to be made accessible to ordinary people to no avail.
I think that time is ripe for Kenya to make public any matter that affects its citizens. This could just be one way of reducing ills like injustices, corruption, grabbing of public land...
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