Dominion was or is doing something good.

The only problem was on PR. They did not or do not know how to positively impact on the people staying around Yimbo and Alego.

If they could know this, they could be having no problems at all. If some councillor comes to you to beg for money, either you shut him up, or you play ball and move on with what you are doing.

If Chris Owalla makes noise, counter his facts truthfully. But you do not call him names and threaten him with incitement or whatever. That will make all of us support Owalla however wrong he may be.

He has all the rights to point out what he thinks are mistakes. Dominion must also answer to all charges thrown its way honestly. I know many people have sought to get answers from Calvin, and he has evaded them. Many colleagues in Europe tried this, and they were disappointed.

So, maybe there is a serious problem at Dominion which they do not want to be exposed, and to this extent, Owalla could be right. But raising a storm in a tea cup is symptomatic to the underlying currents. There could be bigger problems that Dominion does not want to face.

I went to Dominion and was taken round the farm, then I met with Calvin Burgess, and I liked the thinking behind the whole thing.

But some things remaining constant, let those who have enough information fight this war.

The world is now faced with food problems, and this is where companies like Dominion come in. They must have the tact and the will to reach out.

But strong arm tactics can never win any war. It only gives credence to what some journey men want to do; to shut Dominion down.

I will not even in one bit accept the fact that Dominion should close down, notwithstanding their own incompetences.

Odhiambo T Oketch,
CEO KCDN Nairobi.

– – –
Date:  Wed, 30 Apr 2008 02:41:37 -0700 (PDT)
From:  odhiambo okecth
Subject:  Re: TO REV OKOTH OTURA

– – – – – – – – – – –

— On Tue, 4/29/08, atha achola wrote:

From: atha achola
Subject: Re: TO REV OKOTH OTURA
Date: Tuesday, April 29, 2008, 4:44 AM

TO REV OKOTH OTURA
 
I have no many words to tell you. Issues raised by Owalla depict the true position of things as they are about Dominion and the Rice Project in Yala. That you are a beneficiary is not further from the truth. You cannot win the Yala case – and you will not win again by terming what is true as an Incitement. The society is bigger and you cannot frustrate it through intimidation. THINK AGAIN REV.
 
We will be there in solidarity with Chris Owalla.
 
Regards,
Atha ACHOLA
 
 
(Just in case you think this is also an incitement – please have my cell no. 0722935042. It will make it easy for you to send ‘your officers’ to arrest me)
 
– – – – – – – – – – –

Tegi Obanda wrote:
This is a messegae to Rev. Okoth Otura, Dominion Farms and their supporters:
 
You have issued a threat of arrest to Mr. Chris Owalla because of his opposition to the Dominion Rice project at Yala River–a project which is destroying the largest wetalnds in Kenya, and threatens the entire Lake Victoria ecosystem.
 
If those opposing this project are being arrested, please add Tegi Obanda among those to be arrested. I am ready to go to jail for as long as it takes. This dangerous project must be stopped by all means.
 
Tegi Obanda
 
– – – – – – – – – – –

> ndebele okoth wrote:

———– ——— ——— ——— —
Hi Dick,
Would kindly pass this incitement article to the PC for further investigation. Because Mr Owalla has already broken the law by furthering circulation of an incitement articles while the Dominion case is under investigation.
 
Mr Chris Owalla is the leading inciter. He may assist police with investigation, I think the forwarded article can be used as an evident to help police trace the genesis of the Dominion sabotagers.
 
Make sure that the Hon Oburu and Hon Yinda got this article for we do not have time to play games any more with this corrupt elements, I had already spoke with Hon Yinda about the same.
 
We people in Kisumu who can assist the police to get him record statement in Siaya, he operates between Nakuru, Nairobi and Kisumu he is being financed by some Gikuyus and Action Aide.
 
Rev Okoth Otura

– – – – – – – – – – –

chris owala wrote:

Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2008 01:07:14 -0700 (PDT)
From: chris owala
Subject: Re: Regional News
YALA SWAMP -A “ Living Museum � of Biodiversity

The Yala Swamp is a vast wetland region (over 200 square km) which cleans and filters waters that flow into Lake Victoria from two major rivers. It has been called a “ Living Museum � because it provides critical habitat for endangered fish species that have disappeared from Lake Victoria itself. The critically endangered Sitatunga Antelope finds refuge among the swamps’ papyrus. Birdlife International classifies the Yala Swamp among Kenya’s 60 “Important Bird Areas,� and a 2005 World Bank report concluded that the significance of the region’s biological diversity “cannot be stressed strongly enough.�

For centuries, thousands of families have depended on the wetland for clean water, fishing, grazing and agricultural land, and the papyrus that they weave into mats, baskets and thatch roofs. “ “
The Yala Swamp conflict started in 2003 when regional government authorities granted a 25-year lease for rice cultivation to Dominion Farms Ltd, a subsidiary of Dominion Group of Companies based in Edmond , Oklahoma USA . Authorities approved the company’s Environmental Impact Assessment specifically for rice irrigation in a 2,300 hectare-area (about 12% of the Yala Swamp territory). But almost immediately Dominion began building irrigation dikes and a weir, airstrips and roads, and announced plans to build a hydroelectric plant and a major aquaculture venture, including fish farms, a fish processing factory and a fish mill factory, all of which could damage a fragile ecosystem far beyond the designated 2300ha Dominion wants control over 65% of Yala Swamp for its expanded “integrated project.� Some of this area is privately owned by hundreds of families. Some of it is used communally, including the species-rich waters of Lake Kanyaboli which is critical for food security in the region. Action Aid Kenya and the Kenya Land Alliance say the company has in effect privatized the lake and public roads, blocking lake access to over 200 fishermen and impeding access to schools, markets and health clinics. Residents say their protests have been met forcibly with arrests and teargas.

Although no Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) had been approved for these additional Dominion enterprises, they were well underway in early 2006 when scientists in the Kenya Wetlands Forum undertook a “Rapid Assessment of the Yala Swamp Wetlands.� The scientists’ report raises hundreds of unanswered questions about Dominion Farms’ potential impacts on human health and the environment. Likely impacts cited in the report include altering the flow of Yala River, contamination of soils through oil leakages and spillage, pollution of the wetland ecosystem, loss of grazing land, lost of pristine fauna and flora through chemical use and aerial spraying, rising incidences of water- and vector-borne diseases, and social unrest. The report urges Kenya ’s National Environment Management Authority to immediately close down all Dominion Farms activities and require new and independent EIAs to be conducted for each separate project proposed by the company.
Many homes have been flooded by the dominion groups of company living women and children homeless in the name of development

Concerns from the community

1) That the management of Dominion Farms Limited have deliberately chosen not to engage or consult the community on its project implementation and development yet they are seriously being affected directly.
2) That Dominion Farms Limited being a multi national company is hell-bent on forcefully taking away ancestral land without owners consent nor following legal procedures, which is a serious basic human rights violation.
3) That the company (Dominion Farms Limited) has adopted unorthodox means of using threats through proxies, intimidation, police arrests (on trumped up charges ranging from incitement to violence to malicious damaged to private property ) and bribery as a means of silencing and coercing indigenous people to give away the only  livelihood
4) That our leaders (politicians, church leaders and government officers) have failed us totally in the course of this struggle and are instead working in cahoots with the multinational to disposes community off their land and the only source of livelihood.
5) That the local press has been compromised and has adopted partisan approach in reporting the Yala Swamp issues to the favour of Dominion Farms Limited to the disadvantage of the aggressed (community).
6) That the project is being carried out without an independent approved environmental Impact Assessment report done by National Environmental Authority (NEMA).
7) That aerial spraying done by the company on the farms using DDT has severe health and environmental impacts with some of the community members already affected.
8) That blockage of river Yala and Lake Kanyaboli and Yala swamp will deny indigenous people access to water (for domestic use and for our animals) and grazing land which will have a very serious economic impact on our livelihood.
9) That clearing of the Yala Swamp papyrus which is the home to many wild life species including endangered ones like statunga and papyrus gonolek and breeding grounds for many birds is of great concern.
10) Clearing of the papyrus will also have negative side economic effects on the indigenous since they have always used these plants to make mats for sale and use locally.
11)     Dominion group of company once more have use the government to detain 278 head of cattle’s belonging to 40 members of the community at Siaya police station, the owners are to be charged with trespass. The situation at which the animals are kept at the police station is worrying and already some deaths have been reported.

How can we help?

Friends of the Yala Swamp , a coalition of residents and organization sand community Initiative Action Group-Kenya thinks that Kenya authorities need to be lobbied to protect people’s livelihoods and the Yala Swamp wetlands, as they are obliged to do under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.
On behalf of the above organizations we are appealing for ideas on how the community can be assisted in protecting their livelihoods.

Chris owalla
Community Initiative Action Group — Kenya (CIAG-K)
P.O.BOX 9034, 40103
KISUMU
+254-57-2025714
+254-722-901170
grassrootlink@ yahoo.com
ciag-kenya@hotmail. com