Intrigues over the Mau are a sign of the deep political rot in Kenya

The current political intrigues over the Mau forest reafforestation and subsequent resettlement of evicted families is a reminder of the political rot that has bedevilled this country for a long time.

As a young man growing up at the edge of the Mau forest and witnessing the perpetual grabbing of the forest and Agriculture Development Co-oporation farms by those who constituted the who-is-who in the former Kanu government, I have followed the debate on the extinction of the water catchment tower for Kenya and the region extending all the way to Cairo.

The greed for land by the former ruling elites is also credited with the insufficiency of potato and pyrethrum research land in Molo and Kuresoi.

Some of these men are senior persons in the government and the most vocal on compensation — with the blackmail that there may be bloodshed.

During my stay in the area, I personally witnessed the importing of the current evictees, who were shipped from Bomet, Mulot, the wider Kericho area and some parts of the wider Baringo. They acquired the land from the big men, who pocketed their money and left. This is the very reason that compensation becomes a mater of life and death to them as it is the key to political survival.

The tides have been favourable to political criminals, supported by ethnic politics. This way they are able to blackmail the political leadership despite their rotten past.

It is a pity that Kenyans have to contend with this type of politics in the 21st century.

Paul Mwaura Wanderi
via e-mail