White farmers in fear after herdsmen grab land – Do they have the right to own large tracts of land when some Kenyan blacks have none?
Posted by African Press International on May 4, 2009
Surely, Kenya of today should not allow white farmers to own large tracts of land when some black Kenyans have none. The white farmers below have 2500 acres when some Kenyans are suffering. Why not do as in Zimbabwe where Mugabe took land and gave to the poor who fought for independence. Kenya has many Mau Mau fighters who gave the country independence. Such farms as this one should be shared to them. Let the white farmer remain with 100 acres and divide the other 2400 acres to needy Kenyans. If the Kenya government leaves the situation as it is without doing anything, the members of the public may resort to forcing out the farmers adn taking over their land. The white farmers will loose a great deal. Therefore, a better deal for these white farmers is to agree to amicability in land redistribution. API
Mr Tubiana and his wife Murray Butler at their farm during the interview. They accused the authorities of failing to remove those who had invaded their land. Photos/JOSEPH KIHERI
In Summary
- Group suspects that harassment could be a campaign to drive them off properties
Owning land remains one of life’s biggest dreams for most Kenyans and many would give anything to have a piece they call their own.
However for a group of white farmers in Nakuru’s Rongai division, their vast tracts of land have, in recent months, become a cause of anxiety and nightmares as armed raiders, herdsmen and squatters have forcefully occupied parts of their properties.
Since last year, the farmers have endured a series of attacks during which they have lost numerous animals to the raiders.
The besieged farmers now suspect this could be a campaign orchestrated by people intent on dispossessing them of their land.
In February, a security guard, Mr Petro Alwala was killed when he confronted a group of herdsmen who had driven their huge herds onto a 3,000-acre farm owned by Mr Malcolm Bell.
Mr Alwala, 30, had gone to investigate when one of the armed men shot him with an arrow in the chest.
The white farmers are now a worried lot, more so because no tangible action has been taken by the security agencies after they reported the cases of intrusion. They claim the intruders are well known to the security agencies and the provincial administration.
The farmers are also worried that despite reporting the matter to the provincial administration and police, no decisive action seems to have been taken.
The Nation visited the farms following complaints by the farmers and found a community living in fear and uncertainty, unsure of what every new day would bring as the herdsmen and squatters become bolder.
On one of the farms, a 2,500-acre spread, the Nation came across a new semi-permanent structure owned by a former councillor in the area. Though the farm owner had leased him five acres for grazing, the former councillor built the structure, claiming the land was his.
Rongai, a rich agricultural area, has six large-scale white-owned farms. Some parts of the division are relatively dry and used for sisal farming and ranching.
In an interview with Nation, Mr Bell recounted how Mr Alwala was shot as he went to disperse the herdsmen.
I had sent my watchman to go and order the illegal grazers off my land when they killed him. When I reported the matter to Menengai Police Station, they said they were investigating, he said.
He said the incident was the third since last year as he too survived an attack as he toured the farm. He was shot in the back with an arrow.
Mr Bell accused the police of failing to provide him with security despite making reports of the constant harassment by the herdsmen.
Contacted for comment, Molo police chief Achesa Litabalia, under whose jurisdiction the area falls, denied receiving reports on the alleged invasions.
We do not act on rumours and to date no one has reported an incident of this kind, said Mr Litabalia.
However, the farmers insist that their lives and property have become increasingly vulnerable since last year’s post-election violence in which they suffered losses following raids on their farms.
Mr Jan Tubiana, another white farmer in the area, says he has lost 100 sheep and goats as well as 20 head of cattle.
Fetched bitches
He recounts an incident in February when armed raiders invaded his Kiplombe farm. On realising that there were fierce male dogs on the farm, the raiders went back and fetched bitches to distract the guard dogs.
The trick worked and they drove away Mr Tubiana’s livestock.
The situation is so bad that we have been spending sleepless nights pondering on who to run to because we have lost confidence in the security agencies. When we report our frustrations, they dismiss them as mere allegations, Mr Tubiana told the Nation.
Mr Tubiana, who owns 2,500 acres, claims that fencing had been vandalised by illegal grazers, depriving his grade cattle pastures and exposing them to livestock diseases.
Narrating his encounter, Mr Bell says he narrowly escaped death when he was shot with an arrow in the back as he drove to his farm on March 18, last year.
He says no one was arrested in connection with the incident despite having produced two witnesses to assist in tracking down the suspects.
Those who saw me being attacked even provided names of the suspects but it is disappointing to find that we were told investigations would be conducted, Mr Bell said, whose farm is in the Kabarak area.
Mr Bell says three of his watchmen have been attacked since last year as the harassment targeting him and his workers worsens with no help in sight.
Retired president
I am not asking for any special treatment but just that the police should act instead of telling me that they are investigating, he said during the interview.
The farmers say the post-election violence ushered in a period of unbridled insecurity in the area and they were bearing the brunt.
Mr Bell was in the news a few years ago when he took former President Moi to court over ownership of a tract of land on which the retired president’s Kabarak University stands.
He, however, lost the case after a court battle lasting years.
source.nation.ke
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