Govt faces stiff opposition in plan to lift year old Mau caveat
Religious leaders led by Peter Ole Nakola (middle with papers) and Fred Lemama (immediate right) in a press conference in Kims breeze hotel where they waded into a government plan to lift a caveat on title deeds for Settlers who lay claim on the a section of the 146,800 hectares of land in Mau Forest and want it stopped forthwith. | PHOTO | GEORGE SAYAGIE |
What you need to know:
- The government is facing stiff opposition in Narok on its plans to lift the 15 year old caveat on Mau forest, with opposition politicians in the county threatening mass action if the decision is not revoked.
- A declaration by Deputy President William Ruto in Narok two weeks ago that the government was in its final stages to lift the controversial caveat continues to draw mixed reactions, with opposition politicians vehemently opposed to it.
- "We regret that the Deputy President is legitimizing illegal title deeds through roadside declarations. The Mau issue is a grave concern and should never be used as a political tool and we take this seriously," said Orange Democratic Movement’s gubernatorial aspirant Mr Joseph Tiampati Ole Musuni
NAROK
The government is facing stiff opposition in Narok on its plans to lift the 15 year old caveat on Mau forest, with opposition politicians in the county threatening mass action if the decision is not revoked.
A declaration by Deputy President William Ruto in Narok two weeks ago that the government was in its final stages to lift the controversial caveat continues to draw mixed reactions, with opposition politicians vehemently opposed to it.
On Tuesday, opposition politicians led by the Orange Democratic Movement’s gubernatorial aspirant Mr Joseph Tiampati Ole Musuni issued a seven day ultimatum to Deputy President William Ruto to retract the statement he issued in the county on his recent visit.
Mr Tiampati, Narok North MP Moitalel Kenta and ODM deputy county chairperson Ms Christine Lemein said termed the DP’s remarks at Nkaroni in Narok South two weeks ago grave and illegal.
CONFLICTS
The opposition leaders claimed lifting the caveat would cause unnecessary conflicts among the communities living in the area.
"We regret that the Deputy President is legitimizing illegal title deeds through roadside declarations. The Mau issue is a grave concern and should never be used as a political tool and we take this seriously," said Mr Tiampati.
The former Information Communication and Technology PS said no one has the authority to allocate community-owned land. “Not even the Deputy President, the county government or the National Land Commission (NLC) can allocate such land without the approval of the National Assembly,” he claimed.
He said the president and his deputy were elected to safeguard the rule of law and should not be the ones circumventing the same law. “We have giving them one week to retract the statement on the caveat, failure to which all Narok residents who have the interest of Mau at heart will hold demonstrations,” Mr Tiampati said.
MAU SECTION
There are about 40, 000 families in the complex, an estimated 20, 000 of them in the Maasai Mau section which is under the management of Narok County government.
About 7,000 families in the section, according to the Mau Task Force statistics are genuine claimants because they own genuine title deeds.
Mr Kenta argued that it would be a breach of the law for the government to allow illegal settlers into the Mau forest. “We have heard that the Deputy President claiming to have lifted the caveat to allow the fake title deed owners to live in the forest. We will never allow this,” he said.
While visiting, Mr Ruto who attended an inter-denomination prayer meeting at Nkaroni asked the locals residing in the Mau to relax and remain there and even rebuild their homes, schools and health centers as the government had made a decision to lift the caveat.
He said he had already received the names of the 15 schools that were burnt in the Maasai Mau forest saying the government has set aside Sh100 million to rebuild them starting this month.
