Politicizing Mau forest is suicidal

Daniel arap Moi’s sins are being felt by every Kenyan now. He it was who declared that a huge junk of land from the Mau forest would no longer be protected as water catchment. Instead he gave the land, free of charge, to his own son Gideon and his other very close Kalenjin friends Zakayo Cheruiyot, John Lokorio and Sammy Mwaita. The Kalenjins took the land and quickly sold it to land hungry Kenyans. The new buyers subdivided the land and sold it to yet other land hungry Kenyans, who cut down all the valuable trees.

As a result of this heinous act, started by Moi, the whole country is threatening to change into a hot barren land where not even a blade of grass would grow. Cows are dying, goats are dying, chickens are dying, men are dying, women are dying and children are dying; and when Kenyans complain, Kalenjin Members of Parliament led by William Ruto, protest that they are being ethnically ostracized . They are politicizing the Mau Forest, the lifeblood of Kenya , which Daniel arap Moi did not care if it vanished from the face of the earth, as long as his son and friends made money out of it, albeit illegally.

As the usual saviour of the country, Raila Odinga, the Prime Minister, let the cat out of the bag when he told Parliament, and indeed the rest of the country, that the man responsible for the current catastrophic weather condition is none other than the former President Daniel arap Moi. Being the shrewd politician he is he never even mentioned the old man’s name. All he did was to lay the names of the people allocated land at the priceless forest on the table and the man who did the allocation was automatically exposed. Before Raila laid the names on the table, William Ruto was breathing fire. He was on the warpath and did not want to hear anything about evicting the destroyers of Kenyan’s most valuable forest. According to him the settlers at the Mau forest had to be compensated heavily by the government before agreeing to be resettled anywhere else.

To the Kalenjins, Ruto became an instant hero. His popularity shot up so high, well above that of the former President Daniel arap Moi. His word became the law in the kalenjinland. He had acquired new powers and was threatening to use the powers to teach the Prime Minister a lesson. Ruto told Kalenjins to be ready to leave the ODM, which is seen as Raila Odinga’s party. Implicitly this was a clear message to Agwambo that in 2012 he will not get the Kalenjin support which gave him the sweeping victory of 2007. But Raila did not care. As far as he was concerned the truth and justice was more important than the Kalenjin threat. He told Parliament openly that he did not mind paying the political price for the stand he was taking and added: “I will not be intimidated. I have nothing to fear because I know what I am doing is in the best interest of this nation and I am speaking nothing but the truth.”

The truth of the matter is that the destruction of Mau Forest threatens the lives of millions of Kenya who depend on water flowing from the forests into no less than twelve rivers which include Nzoia River, Yala River, Nyando River, Sondu River, Mara River, Kerio River, Molo River, Ewaso Nyiro River, Njoro River, Nderit River, Makalia River benefiting Luos, Kikuyus, Maasais and Kalenjin themselves. Anyone trying to dry those rivers is playing with fire. Some of the rivers feed Kenya’s most picturesque and tourist attracting lakes like Lake Victoria, Lake Turkana, Lake Baringo, Lake Nakuru and Lake Natron. Some of these lakes are not the property of Kenya alone as they are to be found on the borders with neighboring countries Lake Victoria , Lake Turkana which is between Kenya and Ethiopia and Lake Natron which is between Kenya and Tanzania. Obviously Moi did not think of the trouble he was causing by dishing out the forest to his son and friends. But then it must be understood that stealing is the national pastime of the Tugen, which is the sub ethnic group of Kalenjin people from where the former President comes . Those who steal cattle from their neighbors are regarded as heroes. But the old man should have known that stealing a forest is a different matter as the consequences are now beginning to boomerang in the most hurting and throbbing manner.

William ole Ntimama is right; the eviction of the people living in the forest should not be delayed. It should have started yesterday and the country should be mobilized to start planting trees to replace the destroyed ones. All the youthful unemployed Kenyans should be mobilized into tree planting brigades. They should also be armed to fight whoever tries to stop them or to destroy the work they will be doing. The brigade should be led by Ongiek elders who have lived in the forest for years without destroying the ecosystem. The Government should not ignore the offer by Ongiek, who are the indigenous residents of the Mau forest, to show other Kenyans how to preserve the forest through the traditional methods.

Kenya’s agricultural production has taken a nosedive this year due to shortage of rainfall. Wildlife is also dwindling due to the harsh weather caused by the lack of rain. Without the wildlife tourism is likely to be doomed. All because Moi gave some very useful land to his son and friends; yet the Government says it will evict the people destroying the forest in three months’ time. Three months is a very long time in a country where almost everybody is desperately waiting for rainwater which is not coming. Instead of rushing to plant more trees now the politicians are bickering about whether or not evicting the Mau settlers is a political issue. Delaying those evictions is politicizing the Forest; and politicizing the Mau forest is a suicidal mission whose catastrophic results can be felt in the whole country today.