Folks,
Seriously, this is Day Light Robbery With Violence.
Should any of these people, from Moi down, be paid off from Tax-Payer as compensation of MAU, we as a people must DEMAND for a CLEAN WASH New Chapter of Leadership from scratch. We must elect those with No Trace of DNA connection with Old Political Players.
1. They stole from Public, then they demand compensation, from who, which Government and whose Government? Are you people sick? Did you all drink Maziwa ya Nyayo? Could they have put some VUDU, the “Love Spell” in the Maziwa ya Nyayo, which could have caused confusion in your heads? I cant get it……..
2. All these leaders are corrupted, have committed impunity, killed, and Violated Human Rights far and large in many ways, they are Hague candidates. I wonder what Ocampo is upto. What is he waiting for? Is he in league with their conspiracy? How can he trust Wako to be responsible in connecting with victims? I dont.
These leaders cannot be trusted. Their cases are pending. And they have not been convicted or tried for their sins, they could take advantage through Wako and kill all evidence……how can Kenyans give them a Blank Cheque?
3. They committed assassinations to prominent people like Tom Mboya, Ouko, J.M. Kariuki, Mbai and others. Cases are still pending. Why cant they be locked in while awaiting resolution of the cases?
4. They robbed the country shamelessly dry, with all evidence displayed. You still want to burgain with them? Come-on, are we dealing with men here or some half half….nusu nusu…men who talk too much and can do nothing…..this is not the time to change positions……it is a time to go direct….This is the time we can separate men from those who are nusu nusu…….
I want real men to stand with me to kick these goons out of the Government…..if you check yourself and found out that you are nusu nusu man, stay out of the heat……..
5. Come rain come sunshine, they will NOT be compensated, not with Tax-Payers money.
Kwani who are they? Ocampo must also now move with speed……we cant wait.
Thanks.
Judy Miriga
Diaspora Spokesperson
Executive Director
Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
USA
http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com
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Huge payout for Mau big shots
By MURITHI MUTIGA
Posted Saturday, December 19 2009 at 21:00
In Summary
* Senior government official confirms that Sh2 billion will be paid out in compensation to political heavyweights who acquired land in the Mau Complex
Political heavyweights who were allocated thousands of hectares of forestland are set to receive up to Sh2 billion in compensation, the Sunday Nation can reveal.
The big shots, who were the main beneficiaries of the excision of the Mau forest complex, will be paid for their vast holdings in the forest because they have title deeds proving ownership.
The payouts are likely to be controversial because most of the big shots who own land in the Mau are well connected Moi-era politicians and civil servants who used their offices to acquire the land irregularly, according to the Ndungú Commission of Inquiry.
Former Kabete MP Paul Muite described the payment plan as an outrage.
“One day when power is in the hands of reformers, those who are paying and those who are receiving will have to refund the money to ordinary Kenyans.”
Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission board member Billow Kerrow said the proposed compensation package would set a bad precedent.
“The trend emerging is that it has become a reality in this country that big time corruption is no longer deemed to be social injustice. You will be punished for small-time corruption but when you are in the big league, you are sure you will get away with it,” said Mr Kerrow.
A valuation report prepared for the government by the United Nations Environment Programme places the value of the land for which it could find titles at Sh1.5 billion.
That figure excludes the value of buildings constructed on the land, which could push the value much higher. It also does not take into account the value of land holdings registered in the names of companies whose files cannot be traced at the registry.
A senior government official, who declined to speak on the record on the matter because an official statement will only be released after the Cabinet meets this week, confirmed the government would pay all those with titles.
Among those named as beneficiaries of the allocations is former President Moi who is associated with the extensive Kiptagich tea estate in the Mau.
The value of the land, including tea bushes, is placed at between Sh150,000 and Sh300,000 per acre. If the compensation plan goes ahead, he will receive up to Sh760 million.
Three companies associated with Mr Moi’s former personal assistant Joshua Kulei, Sian Enterprises, Chemusiam Farm and Chemusian Tea Estate Ltd, are set to receive over Sh313 million.
Other beneficiaries named in the report are Cabinet minister Franklin Bett, who is listed together with two others as owning holdings worth Sh151 million.
Former Baringo District Kanu official Hosea Kiplagat is in line to receive Sh184 million while former Internal Security Permanent Secretary Zakayo Cheruiyot’s land is valued at Sh40 million.
Owning land
Former Lands Commissioner and current Baringo MP Sammy Mwaita is listed as owning land worth Sh15 million.
Mr Mwaita was named in the Ndung’u Report as having abused his office during his tenure at Lands. President Moi’s son, Gideon, is in line to receive Sh33 million, according to the report.
The issue of compensation of the wealthy land owners is likely to be a politically loaded one. It comes at a time when the nation is facing the worst food shortfall in its history after the short rains proved disappointing.
That means the country’s farmers will struggle to improve output in the New Year to stave off another round of starvation-related deaths.
Leaders from the Rift Valley province allied to Agriculture minister William Ruto have been lobbying hard for Mau land owners to be compensated.
On Friday, Mr Ruto said leaders from the province had met President Kibaki and agreed he would direct Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta to allocate funds for compensation of Mau evictees and the purchase of land for their resettlement.
Mr Ruto also attacked Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s position on the matter.
“He has a family with a home, food and a warm bed to retire to yet he is subjecting the poor and vulnerable, including children, pregnant women and the elderly, to inhuman conditions,” he said.
Mr Odinga’s office released a statement dismissing Mr Ruto’s stance.
“Both the President and the Prime Minister are sensitive to the fact that various groups evicted from their homes in the pre- and post-election violence of 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997, 2002 and 2007 are still living in some temporary settlements or as squatters in lands they don’t own,” read the statement, signed by Mr Dennis Onyango, the director of communications in the PM’s office.
Mr Onyango said the President and PM were working together on resettling the evictees and the process should not be used to “give political mileage to any individual, community or group’’.
The PM’s adviser on coalition affairs Miguna Miguna accused Mr Ruto of playing politics on the matter and told the Sunday Nation that the wealthy land owners would not be paid.
“The PM has stated over and again that all the water towers, starting with the Mau — which is the biggest — shall be fully restored. Pursuant to the Mau taskforce report, unanimously adopted by the Cabinet and passed by Parliament, relocation and resettlements will be done in accordance with the law,” he said.
“Those who qualify for compensation and resettlement shall be compensated and resettled. However, the big land grabbers shall not get a penny because they are economic criminals.”
Genuine titles
Another government official contradicted this stand.
“We are bound by the agreement in Parliament that those with genuine titles will be paid so we have no alternative on this,” he said. The suggestion that the government is obligated to pay wealthy land owners who benefited from the allocations is legally contentious.
The Ndung’u Report argued that the allocations were the result of illegal excision of forest land and said all the allocations should be cancelled, whether land owners hold titles or not.
“The over-arching finding of the commission,” the report says, “is that most excisions of forestland were done without technical consideration of the social, economic and ecological implications.”
The commission dismissed the claim that the title deeds cannot be revoked.
Common law
“(There is) no such concept at common law as “absolute” title. The availability of rectification and revocation (in both the Registration of Titles Act and the Registered Land Act) emphasises the principle that titles are relative, not absolute, and that no title is completely free from the danger that some better right to land may be established.”
On Saturday, Mr Muite endorsed this view and opposed compensation for any land owners in the Mau.
“The constitution confers power on the president and commissioner of lands to give out public land.
“This constitutional power is supposed to be exercised for the benefit of the public. The land is held in trust for Kenyans. If you use that power to dish out public land to your cronies, you have betrayed the trust of the public and will be carrying out an illegality.”
I fully agree with the writer, there is no way anybody can justify the use of the tax payer’s sweat to pay these people for what they obtained illegally.
I am appalled by The Ex President Moi for choosing confrontation against all peace loving Kenyans instead of peace. What became of LOVE PEACE AND UNITY?
He and the other occupiers of Mau forest with ‘fake’ Title Deeds were given a face saving and peaceful chance of leaving the forest voluntarily, but insatiable greed is pushing them to fight the whole of Kenya for money which they are not owed. If I had any respect for him as an old man, I have lost it
By choosing confrontation, and continuing to incite “their people” it is clear that these people are ready to sacrifice lives to protect their ill gotten wealth. I am tempted to wonder if the arms discovered in Narok has anything to do with this
As the president, Moi held the forest land in trust for all Kenyans. He betrayed that trust by grabbing and sharing part of it with his cronies, endangering all Kenyans in the process. Now he expects us to pay them to release it back to us so that we can save ourselves! How absurd can it get?
This situation gives us the strongest reason why Kenyans should reject a Presidential system in favor of a Parliamentary system. Why does Ruto and ‘his people’ sneak to Kibaki rather than present a motion in Parliament on the compensation issue? Because the Kibaki as the president has the power to tell Uhuru to find the money and nobody will question, just as they used to do in Moi’s time, but in Parliament where representatives of the people are, he would have to argue his case.
If we are serious with ending impunity we must all rise against this so called compensation.