I wish to strongly express my support for Prime Minister Raila Odinga in his effort (and of course the government’s) to conserve our environment, and the Mau Complex in particular.
In the same breath, I would like to differ with an opinion writer in today’s The Star newspaper, Wycliffe Muga, when he says that Raila has made a strategic blunder by allowing the eviction of illegal squatters from the Mau. Let me pose a question to Muga, where does he stand on the whole Mau issue? Are you with Kenyans or are you standing on the side of opportunistic politicians?
Muga seems to suggest that Raila needs to play politics with the Mau issue by siding with some politicians from the Rift Valley who seem never to tire of visiting the Mau. Sometimes I wonder when these leaders ever visit their constituencies. Take the case of Joshua Kutuny of Cherangani. Is Cherangani a part of the Mau Complex? The man is always busy politicking in the Mau when he should be busy dealing with issues that are facing his constituents.
Quoting Muga, he says that “Raila should not have allowed this to happen, when there were many ways in which the government could have mitigated the suffering of these people”. Which are these many ways Muga? It is not appropriate just to give a blanket statement that cannot be supported by facts. At least tell us something tangible!
I agree with The Star editorial position of 19th November which says that the Mau evictions are harsh but necessary. That is the bitter truth that every Kenyan, including the politicians from the Rift Valley, needs to accept. There are no two, or even three ways, about this issue. There is only one way and that is for those in the forests to be kicked out, however painful it is.
Kenya needs a man who will stand for the truth, even if he loses popularity with a majority few the way Muga seems to suggest that Raila will lose. This issue is not about Raila but it is about the whole country and its survival. Be firm Raila because the truth and right will eventually triumph. God is on the side of the truth and right!
As for the people who voluntarily left the Mau, media reports indicate that they were in the forest illegally. This is one fact that Muga seems to gloss over. Should the government really compensate people who have committed an illegality in the first place? The Rift Valley politicians may be heroes in the face of the few in the province who do not want to accept the truth that something bad happened, but the rest of Kenya knows that the wrong thing that happened has to be corrected. And this is the time to do so.
What amuses me about the Mau issue is the fact that every Kalenjin politician wants to be seen to be standing for “our people”, even those whose constituencies are very far away from the Mau. This tells you that it is politics at work here and not conviction. Their belief being that their going back to parliament in the next elections will be pegged on whether they supported the Mau evictees or not. That is parochial.
If these politicians were really caring about “their people” as they claim, why have they not shown any goodwill towards the genuine Internally Displaced Persons who were kicked out of their homes after the 2007 general elections? These IDPs are also located in the Rift Valley and some of them came from constituencies represented by some of these members of parliament. Why haven’t they also demanded for the rights of these IDPs, who are more genuine than the Mau evictees who were taken there by the same politicians?
It is better for Raila to loose the Rift Valley vote while standing for the truth rather than allow himself to be blackmailed into allowing a wrong to be committed against Kenyans. The world will judge harshly those who stand on the wrong side of history like these politicians. Muga beware!
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