By Karanja Njoroge
The recent ethnic clashes in Likia area, Njoro District, have brought to the fore the simmering tensions over land in Nakuru County.
The county has the dubious distinction of having the highest land related rows that usually degenerate into ethnic conflicts.
In Likia, a 70-year-old farmer's killing triggered clashes between the Maasai and Kikuyu communities in the controversial scheme.
It rekindled memories of similar clashes five years ago where the communities fought over the 1,600 acres of land in the scheme, leaving at least seven people dead.
Witemere farm, where the recent killings occurred, forms part of the Likia extension, which is part of the Mau forest.
Both communities lay claim to the lands that was repossessed by the Government after being declared a water catchment area.
The herders claim it as their grazing fields while the farmers have continued to farm on it even after the Government declared it a water catchment area.
There have been conflicting reports on what led to the attack on the farmer by the herdsmen.
"We are also trying to find out what was the cause of the clashes," said Mau Narok DO Joseph Mureithi.
Some of the witnesses claimed Kuria Wakaba was harvesting potatoes when the armed herdsmen slashed him to death.
"After attacking him I saw them attack another farmer who was in a nearby farm," said Tabitha Muthoni.
Like seasons, the trouble spots in the county are the same and rotational.
Five years
If it is not the communities living in parts of Molo and Kuresoi going for each other's jugular, it's the communities in Likia and Maella in Naivasha over land.
Following the recent flare up, each side selected a 15-member committee to address the causes of the violence and spearhead peace initiative.
But a joint meeting by the two groups at Tipis trading centre degenerated into a blame game with each side pointing an accusing finger at the other.
Addressing another peace meeting at Likia, the DO asked residents avoid inflammatory speeches.
"Chest thumping and rhetoric will not help you to achieve peace with your neighbours. You have to learn to co-exist as you need each other" the DO said.
After evicting the families from Likia scheme five years ago the Government purchased more than 1,000 acres of land in Molo from a former Cabinet minister and resettled some evictees. The land was to be used as compensation for the 318 families after they forfeited their land to State.
The clashes in Molo, Kuresoi, Likia and Njoro relate to conflicts over land that dates back to colonial era.
Every five years the county is gripped by a cycle of violence as politicians eager to capitalise on the issue inflame passions among the electorate.
"The voters will mostly vote for the one who has the harshest speech on land. They will never vote for a candidate promoting dialogue," notes Mr Keffa Magenyi of Internally Displaced Persons network.
The ethnic flare-ups usually cause instability in the vast province where residents accuse successive Government of failing to address historical injustices.
The Likia land controversy comes in the wake of efforts by members of the Maasai community to reclaim land which they allege was taken away from their fore fathers.
Recently, the Government announced it had purchased 971 hectares in Mau Narok still to resettle 850 IDP families in camps in Nakuru.
However, elders from the Maasai community resisted the move, saying the area is ancestral land.
The community has vowed to oppose Government efforts to resettle the displaced families at Rose farm bought from a white wheat farmer for the resettlement.
Mau Narok Councillor Peter Karuri said the clashes in Likia might be linked to the controversy surrounding the planned resettlement of IDPs at Mau Narok.
"Leaders have been inciting residents to resist the resettlement and also calling on them to reclaim their ancestral land," he added.
The civic leader denied claims that the farmer who was killed had engaged in an argument with the herdsmen after they drove their livestock into his farm.
"He was not armed and even if there was a confrontation with the farmer why did they find it necessary to attack other residents. That was provocation," he added.
Source: The Standard | Online Edition
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