By Ben Ole Koissaba
The criminal silence by the government of Kenya and KenGen (the geothermal company that extracts power from Narasha) was a tactical retreat by the government and KenGen to devise a new strategy to not only evict the Maasai from their ancestral land in Narasha but to use divisive mechanisms to weaken the Maasai resolve not to cede an inch of their land without due process of the law and respect for their rights. It is now emerging that the committee set by the president to oversee compensation and resettlement of the 256 families whose homes burnt by hired arsonist under heavy police protection was a smoke screen to stop the Maasai and human rights advocates from pursuing the case.
It is noted with regrets that KenGen that came out strongly to deny its involvement in the forceful eviction whose damage is estimated to be over Ksh. 80 Million ($ 100,000) is now engaged in a selective census of the community to register potential community members to be compensated and evicted from the site in disregard of the committee that was appointed by the president to overlook the process.
It is also emerging that there are very strong state forces pushing the evictions of the Maasai to pave way for not only geothermal extraction but for the establishment of an industrial park, courtesy of financing from China (It is said that the president secured financing of up to 80 billion during his last trip to China). Given China’s lack of adherence to human rights standards, KenGen and government functionaries are now keen to use any means possible to evict the Maasai at any cost to pave way for their investments. It is a pity that the promises made by the President of a quick solution to the problem has not yielded any results, even the provision of food to the families that have been living In tents donated by the Red Cross.
The silence by the World Bank country office speaks a lot especially when the Narasha community gets sidelined in talks regarding their plights are not consultative and rely mostly on gatekeepers selected by KenGen through the provision of tokens and privileges. It is also emerging that some community members that have been vocal on the issues have received threats if they continue pursuing the case.
The Narasha community appeals to all human rights defenders and advocates to be vigilant and supportive of their quest to seek justice, human dignity, and compensation commensurate to the losses they have continued to suffer in defense of their ancestral lands.
--Ben Ole Koissaba is a PhD Student in Institute on Family and Neighborhood Life at Clemson University and Founder Chair Maa Civil Society Forum in Kenya.
