JOINT STATEMENT OF ODM-SCANDINAVIA AND NARC-KENYA SCANDINAVIA ON THE LAND GRABBING CASE OF MR. GEORGE WACHIRA KIRIRA
The Orange Democratic Movement in Scandinavia (ODM-Scandinavia) and Narc-Kenya
Scandinavia wishes to draw the attention of both the Kenyan government and the International community to the case of Mr. George Wachira Kirira who is currently landless and sleeping outside his home with family after his piece of land was fraudulently taken over by Mr. Joe Maina Ruthithi, a corrupt debt collector and fake born again Pentecostal Church of Africa pretender claiming money for an assault allegedly committed in 1982.
According to our Intelligence, Mr Muthithi is a well known extortionist both in Kiamariga and Kabiruini villages who is using his corrupt connections within the land system, the local police and the legal system to steal land from a helpless peasant using a case allegedly committed more than two decades ago.
Being a teacher, a Church elder and knowing that Kirira’s two sons have, in the past, died mysteriously, Mr. Muthithi is the last person who could have been involved in the grabbing of Mr. Kirira’s land through the back door.
According to the East African Standard (21/07/208) which reported the case, Mr. Kirira allegedly assaulted Mr. Muthithi in 1982 (26 years ago) after which he was fined Ksh 80,000 but by 1998, the fine had accumulated an interest bringing the total amount to Ksh 240,000. At the time Kirira’s land was fraudulently auctioned this year, the piece of land had a market value of Ksh 4 million.
At the alleged auction, the auctioneer was never named while it is Mr. Muthithi, the corrupt debtor, who allegedly won the bid. In all fairness, both ODM-Scandinavia and Narc-Kenya Scandinavia believes that this was a corrupt and fraudulent deal which should never have taken place in today’s Kenya and under the current Coalition government headed by President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga. What has happened to Mr. Kirira could happen to anybody in Kenya and it is because of the unspeakable level of injustice and corruption that both ODM-Scandinavia and Narc-Kenya Scandinavia have decided to intervene in the case.
We wish to draw the attention of Mr James Orengo, the Minister of Land and Ms Martha Karua, the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs to the fact that the alleged auction of Mr. Kirira’s land was not only illegal but also unacceptable because so far, the legal process that may have led to the auction remains a secret. Mr. Kirira’s house has been demolished, his land stolen in broad day light, his family left in the cold while his future has suddenly been made uncertain after a dirty deal that needs to be investigated by the Ministry of Lands and Settlement.
ODM-Scandinavia and Narc-Kenya Scandinavia wishes to draw the attention of the Kenyan government to the fact that on January 8th 2003, an attempt by Mr. Kirira to have the case reviewed so that he could auction a piece of the land and repay the debt was rejected by the High Court in Nyeri on November 15th 2007 (see East African Standard 21st July 2008). Instead, Justice Milton Makhandia sitting at the High Court in Nyeri, issued an eviction order against Kirira and without considering the details of the case which tended to favour Mr. Kirira.
As concerned Kenyans in Scandinavia who have been deeply touched by this case, we wish to alert the Kenyan government that it has to intervene in this case otherwise we will have no option but to open a campaign so that justice can prevail and Mr. Kirira’s stolen land returned.
Since the war of liberation led by the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (Mau Mau), the issue of land has never been resolved in Kenya and the open stealing of Mr. Kirira’s land under a new Coalition government is evidence that land grabbing through the back door in Kenya is still alive. It has to be noted that since flag independence, the issue of land has failed to be addressed adequately by three subsequent regimes and the example of Mr. Kirira is a tip of the iceberg.
We take this opportunity to appeal to Kenyans at home and abroad to study Mr. Kirira’s case very carefully because according to our understanding of the case, and after speaking to Mr. Kirira on the phone, there is no justice for the poor land owner and the oppressed in Kenya.
The on-going war in Mau forest emanates from the problem of land which has never been addressed or put on the agenda in Kenyan Parliament. In Mount Elgon, Naivasha, Kiandutu, Molo, Kibira, Korogocho, Mukuru kwa Njenga, Mathare, Soweto, Uasin Gishu, Njiru, large parts of the Rift Valley and Central Province, people are still landless while top politicians currently in government are owning huge tracts of land in our country which are lying idle.
The case of absentee landlords is choking the country when millions of Kenyans are landless. The Ndungu Report is adequate documentation of the state of land grabbing in Kenya, an issue which requires immediate and urgent attention by the current Coalition government of Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga.
We demand that:
1. The Coalition government of Kenya intervene in the case of Mr. Kirira by re-visiting and overturning the judgment made by the corrupt Judge, Mr. Milton Makhandia who presided over the case.
2. The land of Mr. Kirira be returned to him with immediate effect and his demolished house reconstructed at the expense of Mr. Joe Maina Muthuthi who corruptly masterminded or influenced the decision in the case to pave the way for the grabbing of Kirira’s land.
3. Mr. Kirira be compensated for days spent in the cold with his family after his house was demolished and that he also be compensated for psychological torture, humiliation, degradation and human suffering he has already underwent as a result of the grabbing of his land and demolition of his house.
4. The Coalition government address the issue of land urgently through Constitutional reforms and any other measure appropriate in the situation.
5. Hon James Aggrey Orengo, the Minister of Lands and Settlement, make an urgent Ministerial statement over the issue with copies to ODM-Scandinavia and Narc-Kenya Scandinavia.
6. The MP for Mathira Hon Ephraim Maina to react to the issue with immediate effect since the issue concerns one of his own constituents.
7. Representatives of government agencies especially the DC, the DO, Chief, Sub chief, OCPD commanding Kiamariga Police post and others be brought to answer questions as to how such a dirty and criminal deal could have proceeded opening the way for a poor Kenyan and his family to be deprived of ancestral land they have resided on since birth.
If the government cannot take immediate action, ODM Scandinavia and Narc-Kenya Scandinavia wishes to warn the Coalition government that we will never rest until this case is resolved. The two party branches will not just open a campaign on the case but will also ensure that this case is dramatized before the International community.
As we write, we wish to add that we are in the process of fund raising to realize the Ksh 240,000 which has led to Mr. Kirira’s land being stolen in broad day light. We are in the process of setting up a bank account to mobilize funds Internationally as a first step towards intervening in the case.
We appeal to Kenyans at home and abroad to join in the campaign to help in the recovery of Mr. Kirira’s land. As Kenyans who believe in democracy, human rights, freedom and the rule of law, our position is that we cannot stand by and watch Mr. Kirira’s land being stolen in broad day light and his children being forced to live in mystery through corruption and other illegal deals.
Signed:
Mrs Hellen Opwapo,
Chairlady, ODM-Scandinavia
46706575772
hellenakumu@hotmail.com
Mr. Daniel Mwaura Njuguna
Chairman, Narc-Kenya Scandinavia
Mwaos20@hotmail.com
Tel: 467036694039
Dated 23rd July 2008
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