Folks,

It is time for pay back come rain come sun-shine….We DEMAND for Justice now, not in some future after long unpresidented and unresonable dragged cases which ends unto the genocide masterminders benefits……We want justice now, and not tomorrow…….

Judy Miriga
Diaspora Spokesperson
Executive Director
Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
USA
http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com

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Politically Driven Clashes
Escalate in Kenya

By Joseph Ojwang
Kenya5.2007 – 6/11/2010

Kenya has lately experienced the worst fighting over land disputes since 1992, the same year the country ushered in multiparty politics. These clashes have erupted every election year since then, leaving thousands of innocent citizens maimed and property worth million of shillings destroyed.

Believed to be fueled by the inflammatory remarks of politicians, communities war with one another over land, or control of resources on the land.

Areas that have been rocked in the past fifteen years include the provinces of the Rift Valley, Coast, Nyanza, North Eastern and Western.

When NARC took over the government almost four years ago, Kenyans thought the clashes would stop, but they continue to recur with little attention from the administration.

The country prepares for election late this year. Clashes again erupt in Trans Mara, Laikipia, Marsabit, Nakuru and Mount Elgon, where over one hundred lives have been lost.

Several who escaped in the early 1990’s fear returning to their ancestral homes while fresh attacks and reprisals remain likely.

Instead of intervening, the government continues to spend colossal amount of money setting up commissions to establish the root causes of the land clashes, but to date none of the commissions recommendations have been implemented.

Churches and human rights denounce the government failure to implement the Akiwumi and Ndungu land reports addressing land related conflicts and other causes of inter-community feuds. Politicians echo their condemnation of the ongoing loss of lives in the Mount Elgon region knowing they are partly to blame for the fighting. Meanwhile they accuse each other, claiming that the deployment of police and military to the troubled area would bring a lasting solution into the problem.

At one point Kenyan parliamentarians urged Internal Security minister John Michucki to visit the area for assessment, insisting that a state minister visiting the area is the only way to reassure and empathize with the effected families, as well as sending a strong warning to the perpetrators that the government is in control.

But despite all the debate and reports little action is being taken.

Rebel fighters from the neighboring Uganda are also cited in one report to be collaborating with Mount Elgon residents to cause mayhem in the area. Assistant Minister of Planning, John Serut, appears on the list alongside former MPs, Eric Kimkung and Wilberforce Kisiero, together with other unnamed councillors as sponsors of rival terror gangs against various communities in the region.

Kenyan authorities have since forwarded the names of the alleged Ugandan rebel fighters to Ugandan authorities for immediate action.

Land clashes in Mount Elgon erupted immediately after the government made allocations of land to people at the controversial Chebyuk settlement scheme early this year.

Those who benefited from the allocation were from the Ndorobo clan. A majority of landless people from Soy clan took up weapons and started fighting, claiming they are neglected and the Ndorobo people had benefited from the same sort of unfair distributions during the KANU regime.

A group calling itself Saboat Land Defense Force launched an attack against the Ndorobos in attempt to reclaim the land from them.

The gang commander has made demands through local journalists that they want the government to address before halting the violence that has displaced more than 4,000 families.

They want the entire Western provincial administration overhauled and replaced by new officers and the arrest and subsequent arraignment in court of the area MP Serut for inciting the violence, a claim Serut has vehemently denied.

Mount Elgon is located north of Lake Victoria on the boarder between Kenya and Uganda. It is a mountain of volcanic origin, which reaches an altitude of 4,320 meters [over 14,000 feet].

The mountain’s biggest attraction is its elephants, which consume the salt found in caves on the mountain slopes.

This is the only place in the world where elephants go underground. There are three caves open to visitors, Kitum, Chepnyali and Mackingeny, and of the three, you are most likely to see elephants in Kitum.

Sadly, the elephants have been hard hit by Ugandan poachers, and in past years there have been ongoing battles between park rangers and poachers, as well as ethnic clashes. Despite the mountain’s great potential for hiking, it is not popular because of the danger.

The government will need to halt the fighting and restore peace before the tourists will feel safe enough to return to the region.
Joseph Ojwang is Change-Links correspondent in Kenya, Africa. He is trying to attend a local journalism school in Kenya but he does not have the funds. We are asking that readers who appreicate his work donate to his education. Upon request we will provide his address or you can donate in his name to Change Links And you can email him at: Ojwang Joe ojwangjoe@yahoo.com