Two Officials of ODM-K Scandinavia have met Ms Bodil Ceballos, a prominent Swedish MP of the Green Party, and raised the case of land grabbing at the residence of the Kenyan Ambassador to Scandinavia Mrs Purity Muhindi.
Mr. Dancan Munala, the Party’s Secretary and Mr. Jared Odero, a Committee member, met Ceballos in her office at Parliament buildings as a follow up to the November 15th African Union Conference that was held at the Swedish Parliament and that was also attended by ODM-K Scandinavia officials.
The purpose of the meeting with Cebello was for ODM-K Scandinavia to identify common grounds for collaboration with the Green Party, update the Party about ODM-K Scandinavia activities in Sweden and to present the Party’s working documents to the Green Party.
During the meeting, Mr. Munala presented the legislator with ODM-K Scandinavia’s 12 Point program, Constitution and registration certificate.
LAND GRABBING AT AMBASSADOR’S RESIDENCE
Mr. Odero took the opportunity to present the case of alleged land grabbing at the residence of the Kenyan Ambassador to Scandinavia Mrs Purity Muhindi.
“Ms. Ceballos took the issue with a lot of seriousness, noting all the fine details, from the moment the criminal activity was detected by the former Ambassador’s gardener Mr. Njenga Muirani to the steps that have so far been taken by ODM-K Scandinavia”, Mr. Odero told KSB soon after the meeting.
The Party has since obtained an original map of the land which contradicts the current boarders, organized a tour of the residence to get further details, interviewed the neighbor who said he spent Ksh 2 million on the deal, took still photos and video footage of the crime scene, connected with the Kenyan media to expose the scandal and kept the Embassy constantly on toes over the land theft.
Mr. Odero said that Ms Ceballos “was left agape after gathering details to the effect that the section of land which had been hived off was awarded to a Swedish neighbor due to some repair costs he had incurred after fixing the fence”.
“In her opinion, this was tantamount to corruption and she promised to take up the matter with the Foreign Affairs Parliamentary Committee, in which she is a member”, Mr. Odero said.
According to protocol, the Foreign Affairs Parliamentary Committee is expected to examine the allegation, look at the evidence and institute contacts with the Kenyan Embassy through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for an explanation.
The introduction of the land grabbing case to Ms Ceballos was the first move in a series of planned exposures by ODM-K Scandinavia which has vowed to ensure that the grabbed land is repossessed by the Kenyan government and the new tree fence that marks the new boundary is pulled down.
POOR ORPHANS IN KENYA’S KIBERA SLUMS
According to a report filed by Mr. Odero and presented to ODM-K Scandinavia’s Executive committee, the two officials also discussed the role of ODM-K Scandinavia in promoting social and environmental justice, key issues that the Green Party holds dearly.
On the social front, the two officials presented a project to assist a grandmother in Kenya’s Kibera (Africa’s largest slum) who is not only widowed but also takes care of her four orphaned grandchildren.
The woman survives on less than a Dollar a day by scrapping through garbage mounds of Kibera, picking plastic bags to sell and feed the orphans. The plight of this family was brought to the attention of the world by Christiane Amanpour (the Chief International Correspondent of CNN Television) during the World Aids Day on December 1, 2006. The documentary exposed a glaring paradox of Kenya’s booming economic growth, currently at 5.8%.
Ms Caballos was updated on how the widow and her family stand out as a pathetic example of how majority of Kenyans are not enjoying the much publicized “Najivunia kuwa Mkenya” (I am proud to be a Kenyan) catchphrase.
“ODM-K Scandinavia has contacted Christiane Amanpour and Ms. Sophia Njoroge, the Movement’s Vice treasurer, is already collecting money to assist this family and identify a sustainable project to help them”, Mr. Odero said. The two ODM-K Scandinavia Officials promised to keep Ms. Ceballos informed on progress being made to help the grandmother and her orphaned grandchildren.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS
Other grassroots environmental activities that these two parties identified during the meeting include mobilizing rural women groups in Kenya who depend on agriculture, yet land degradation now deprives them of quality harvests.
“Of particular interest to Ms. Ceballos was how to raise awareness by emphasizing that improving the economy should go hand-in-hand with respecting the environment”, Mr. Odero told KSB.
Ms Caballos told the two ODM-K Scandinavia officials that the West has learnt the hard way on environmental issues from past mistakes and cited the case of China, whose economic growth, she said, is currently very rapid but without much concern for the environment.
The position of the Green Party is that dissemination of awareness on environmental issues should extend to the poor masses in the urban areas of Kenya.
Ms Ceballos gave the example of the Green Party’s joint twinning of Gävle (a town in Sweden) with Buffalo City in South Africa as a success story supported by the ANC government. ODM-K Officials promised that if the Party seizes power, there would be many areas of cooperation between the new government and the Green Party in Sweden.
CURBING CORRUPTION ON DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE
Ms. Ceballos was very interested in knowing the position of ODM-K Scandinavia in International development assistance and accountability.
“ODM-K Scandinavia suggested that since Kenya ranks very highly on corruption, Swedes should get the help of competent Kenyans who are aware of Swedish efficiency and honesty instead of depending on fabricated information by State agents on questions of accountability”, Mr. Odero said.
According to Mr. Munala, the practice of using Swedes to run in the fields for a few days inspecting projects has always failed because corrupt Kenyan officials keep devising new methods to enrich themselves thereby sabotaging projects.
“ODM-K Scandinavia offered to identify competent Kenyans resident in Sweden who could help device effective ways of curbing corruption rampant within the field of International development assistance”, Mr. Munala told KSB.
Okoth Osewe: makosewe@gmail.com
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