THE ENVIRONMENT; PM ODINGA IS RIGHT ABOUT THE MAU!

David ochwangi
Ted, Dec 2, 2009 at 04:09 AM

It is obvious the political fortunes in Kenya are extremely volatile and can and do indeed turn on a dime. Political opportunists are always lurking and waiting to pounce when the prey is most vulnerable but make no mistake about it this time around, Kenya as a whole will lose if we fail to stand up to against the same inciters who plunged the country into violence; the MAU is one issue PM Odinga is more right than wrong and we must support him in spite of himself; the same song and dance that has ruined our country for way too long must not be allowed to ruin the environment permanently.

Politics aside, it is NO SECRET that the MAU is deteriorating by the day and Kenya and the rest of the region will continue to suffer immense and irreversible damage if radical steps are not undertaken to stop the degradation and restore it to its original state. It just so happens that PM Odinga took on this unenviable task of spearheading the process. Granted the execution has been very poor (it could and can still be handled properly by providing temporary shelter to inhabitants while resettlement is being worked out; the big land owners who obtained the tracts fraudulently should have been have dispossessed first so they can’t pawn the poor trying to feign phony sympathy and should be required to pay restitution to a super fund used to restore the MAU and resettle genuine land owners and those who have called the MAU home for generations). The Rift Valley MPs engineered and executed the most casualties following the 2007 elections; they created, IDPs, the largest internal human displacements in Kenya’s history that are yet to resettle anywhere, a practice they have perfected since 1992. Led by President Moi, they have participated and personally benefited from the largest manmade environmental degradation in Africa and now they have the audacity to challenge the survival of Kenya’s environment? Like him or not and admittedly it is a tough job but yes, as a matter of principle PM Odinga is right in reclaiming the MAU. It will be hard to undo MOI’s 24 years of economic, political and environmental ruin but try we must. Why on earth is a murderous political nuisance like Ruto allowed to set Kenya’s environmental agenda or any agenda for that matter? Why is Uhuru Kenyatta cozying up so closely with this wobbly unprincipled blood drenched ragtag warlord anyway? I mean seriously! What value is there to anyone in Kenya? The ICC indictments are around the corner, why on earth would any sane person be caught up in Ruto’s shenanigans? Don’t they learn?

The truth is these beneficiaries are hiding their ill gotten gains behind the poor peasants when in fact they themselves are the worst offenders. The peasants didn’t do nearly a fraction of the damage done by the large land grabbers some of whom now blatantly daring the government; threatening to pass a NONSENSE no confidence motion against the PM because they are about to be exposed! Just foolish sheer childish bravado which we can only ignore; I dare them, what is stopping them? PM Odinga is right, the MAU must be restore, PERIOD!