Last week, bandits who are allegedly members of the ”Sabaot Land Defence Forces” slaughtered 10 Kenyans in Western Kenya. They were wearing police uniforms. The killings came barely ten days after six Kenyans were massacred in the same region. The attacks have been going on since September last year without government intervention.
Last month, the intensification of the attacks forced over 5,000 Kenyans to flee to Uganda after the Ndorobo and Soy clans of the Sabaot community began slaughtering one another over land in Chebutuk settlement scheme. As thousands of Kenyans were displaced, the government simply stood by and watched.
The Kibaki government seized power on a platform of resettling the landless following perennial landlessness across the country but when Kibaki arrived at State house, he has mainly been sleeping for 16 hours a day instead of addressing the crisis of landlessness. For example, 1,000 acres of land that was earmarked for resettling victims of Likia clashes during the Moi dictatorship has not been surveyed because the government doesn’t believe that a solution to the problem deserves serious attention.
According to recent statistics, more than 140 Kenyans have been killed at Mt Elgon, Trans Nzoia, Central Province and Tana River due to land related clashes. Politicians seeking to divide Kenyans in order to continue ruling them have been fuelling the massacres through inflammatory statements without government action.
In Central Province, politicians connected to the government have openly encouraged youth aged between 18-24 to “arm themselves” against unspecified enemies, a cover in preparation for fresh rounds of attacks and more murders. ODM-KS appeals to the youth to ignore irresponsible calls that they take up arms to attack their own people in the interest of selfish politicians.
That said, ODM-KS welcomes the announcement of a “National Day of Mourning” today Monday 14th May for victims of Kenya Airways plane crash. However, the Party believes that the loss of human lives should receive equal attention. Kenyans who have lost their lives under the State supervised ethnic cleansing do not just deserve to be remembered but the whole problem of landlessness which fuels the massacres also deserve to be solved. Individuals who have been abetting these clashes should be investigated and brought before the law regardless of their stations in life.
Kibaki continues to sing about the economy. However, the growing insecurity in the country, the continued loss of innocent lives, blood letting, mayhem and government connivance in the atrocities being committed against the Kenyan people overrides any talk about “economic growth” Kibaki has been talking about.
Events connected to murders of innocent Kenyans as a result of landlessness should serve as a reminder that the Kibaki government needs to be defeated in the next elections. Kibaki has been in power for only five years but he has wrecked the country. The image of Kibaki being painted by paid propagandists working for the government should not hood-wink Kenyans.
Kenya has an Army which is supposed to ensure the security of the country especially when armed bandits who apparently cannot be contained by the police force emerge to begin a campaign of terror, death and destruction of property.
The fact that the Army continues to sleep in the barracks in the face of insecurity should be a signal that the state is involved in the violence because of political reasons. When the State fails to protect its own citizens against the kind of attacks being witnessed in Kenya, the only option left for the victims will be for them to arm themselves to protect their families and property.
The Kibaki government has failed Kenyans and since the President has refused to resign, ODM-KS appeals to Kenyans to ensure that the Kibaki government is voted out of Office in December.
Martin Ngatia
Vice Chairperson,
ODM-K Scandinavia
About the Author
