Uhuru Kenyatta and The Land Question in Kenya.

Uhuru addressing the land issue and actually making some good points by throwing down the gauntlet to all those who accuse him of owning vast tracts of land.

See it for yourself.

In politics often times perception is reality and since most voters in my opinion are usually low-information voters, this land issue will dog Uhuru throughout the campaigns and all the way to election day and it may chip away some votes for him.

Raila and co. are throwing everything but the kitchen sink hoping something will stick and land could be it.

I have a feeling that on points Uhuru is gonna own Raila on that issue should they face off in a nationally televised debate.

But then again in politics who cares about facts? As far as I know very few do. So we'll see as days go on.

There was also a term that came up "makaburu" during Raila's campaigns in Rift-valley province. Talk of perceptions and symbols of attachement, while those that track hatespeech are wasting time on blogs seeking coded messages. We are really in a dark period as a country. each "horse" with their own devices ultimately to help secure a win during the ballot.

I was really impressed by Citizen Tv show on elections in Nakuru. Where citizens seemed to take charge of the issues affecting them as opposed to bidding for populist politicians.

Kwa kusema Jomo Kenyata alipata ardhi kwa kufuata sheria ni sawa lakini je ni wangapi waliokuwa watu wa kawaida walipata hiyo ardhi kwa kupitia huo mpangouliofadhiliwa na serikali ya uingereza na benki ya dunia,kwanini mtu ambaye ni raisi atumie madaraka vibaya kwa kujilimbikia ardhi kwa kutumia ofisi ya uraisi,je Kenyata asingekuwa raisi angepata hiyo fursa,hata kama Uhuru ni mnufaika binafsi lakini familia yote ya Kenyata akiwamo Uhuru walitakiwa kutoa ardhi kwa wananchi kwa njia za uwazi ili ndio tujue kweli kama wako na utu wa kuwasaidia Wakenya ,hata kama Uhuru alikuwa na miaka 17 lakini baado amefanikiwa kutokana na urasimu wa baba yake kwa hiyo hata akina RAO wanavyosema warudishe ardhi ni sawa kwani Uhuru ni mmojawapo wa wanafamilia hata kama ardhi ipo kwa jina la baba yake.Kwa kifupi unaweza kutumia sheria iliyoha halali kunufaika nayo kinyume cha utaratibu kwa kutumia hizo sheria kama alivyofanya Jomo Kenyata,jiulizeni kama angekuwa mtu wa kawaida kutoka kule Gatundu angeweza kunufaika na huo utaratibu,hapa inafaa tena sana kusema Mzee Kenyata alitumia ufisadi katika kupata ardhi kwa kutumia uraisi kwa hiyo hizo mali ni za kifisadi na ziudishwe kwa wananchi,na hapo ndio tuanzie kwa Uhuru kuwaambia nduguze warudishe ardhi waliopewa kutokana na ufisadi wa Jomo Kenyata kama kweli mwanaume

Mwenye nacho huzidi kuwa nacho. Masikini majority of KENYANS hata ku own land ya 20 kwa 20 ni ndoto. Wanazaliwa ktk vi apartment na kuzeekea humo!

Hehehe :becky: Those that originate from venus or mars :smile:need not answer what I am about to post!!:smiling::smile:

Yawezekana uhuru au mama ngina au boma ya pili ya jomo na ndugu zake wa kambo kumiliki haya mashamba lakini mahali ambapo uhuru anawafunga adui zake 10:1 kwa suala la ardhi ni pale ambapo anawauliza, mbona wasifuate au wasitumie sheria kuleta petition kortini kutambua sehemu za ardhi zilizonyakuliwa kurudishwa kwa wakenya, jambo ambalo katiba mpya imeweka misingi ya kufuatiliwa. Hata hapo Ab-titichaz ameweka yawezekana kuwa ni uvumi.

Lakini kama wetangula alivosema kwenye interview ya citizen mwezi uliopita, kuwa hii ni political issue and not a legal issue kwa hivyo hawana wakati kubainisha kisheria! Mr wetangula gave a good fodder for political debate and for keeping the political atmosphere temperatures constant!

Licha ya kelele kutoka reformers hata RAO amefaidika sana na serikali ya moi kutoka 1990s na hata watu wake Kibera hawana hata vyoo ila kutumia viji plastiki kutia uchafu lol. Hata kiongozi anayepigania maswala ya haki ameshindwa kwa ushawishi wake kuwachimbia wenyeji vyoo vya shimo kibera! halafu asema elimu kutoka shule ya msingi hadi vyuo vikuu itagharamiwa na serikali yake!

Uhuru Kenyatta Has No Moral Authority To Solve Kenya's Land Problems




Monday, February 4, 2013 - 00:00 -- BY NGUNJIRI WAMBUGU

Some time late last year I met an intense young man called Elijah Mburu. Elijah comes from Kiambu county and he and some other colleagues of his ‘rika' (age group) had just launched a lobby group called the Kenya National Land Accord Movement (KNLAM.

They had come up with a petition to Uhuru Kenyatta and they were out to collect one million signatures to petition Uhuru to allocate land to squatters and IDPs, especially in Kiambu, Taveta and parts of Rift Valley.

Today KNLAM has collected 215,000 signatures from Kiambu in addition to signatures from other parts of the country. On January 13, Elijah and his group accused Uhuru in the press of neglecting Kiambu residents.They said he is a custodian of chunks of land formerly owned by these residents.

They also mobilised Kiambu residents living in colonial villages to petition the Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Lands minister James Orengo to address their resettlement plans before they leave office.

Raila has taken up Elijah's cause and is now challenging any Kenyan with large tracts of land to give up some of it for the sake of poor Kenyans who are squatters and IDPs. Uhuru is livid.

His family is reputed to own land the size of a province in a country where the average Kenyan can barely afford a plot of land to bury his dead.

On October 1, 2004 the Standard's lead story was on how the Kenyatta family is reputed to own 24,000 acres in Taveta, 50,000 acres in Taita, 29,000 acres in Kahawa Sukari, 10,000 acres in Gatundu, 5,000 acres in Thika, 9,000 acres in Kasarani, and 10,000 acres in Naivasha.

The newspaper also quoted another 52,000 acres in Nakuru, 20,000 acres in Bahati, 10,000 acres in Rumuruti, and 40,000 acres in Endebbes.

There was also mention of 100 acres in Karen and 1,000 acres in Dagorreti. The paper explained that this land was acquired during the 15-year reign of Uhuru's father, Jomo Kenyatta.

Ironically, Uhuru claims his greatest political support from Kiambu, a county with at least eight colonial-era villages - Kamuguga, Karecheni, Kiambaa, Kihara, Karura, Ichaweri and Kirathimo - that were established by the colonial government as concentration camps for Mau Mau sympathisers.

However, the thousands of young men who inhabit these villages are the ones behind the Kenya National Land Accord, and they insist Uhuru must restore their grandfathers' lands back to them before they can vote him into any position.

Elijah insists Uhuru must redeem himself of these historical injustices before running for President. Uhuru knows it is not illegal to own even the reputed 500,000 acres of land.

He also knows that unlike in western countries, it is not illegal to own every sea-front at the Coast and keep it away from poor members of the public who might want to enjoy God's gift of beaches.

This is why he challenges Raila to produce evidence of illegality in their family property. Uhuru cannot be accused of land grabbing. As he himself admitted recently whatever happened under his parents is no concern of his.

However, the fact is that Uhuru is who he is today because of historical land injustices. These are the basis of the economic wealth he enjoys; and this economic wealth is the foundation of his political power today.

Uhuru must not assume that the millions of Kenyans who were disenfranchised in the process of his family acquiring their wealth have forgotten what happened.

As he challenges Raila to produce evidence showing that the land the Kenyattas own was acquired illegally, he needs to realise that millions of Kenyans do not need such evidence.

We know how the land was acquired, whatever the legal documents might say. He also must accept that Kenyans understand that there is no way powerful individuals with such a history, and who still own large tracts of un-utilised land, can be trusted to solve Kenya's perennial land problems.

As Wetang'ula said, one really cannot expect a monkey to officiate over the eradication of forests! Raila has a point. Thousands of the Kenyan middle-class are struggling to pay bank loans so as to own a plot of land.

Millions of Kenyans continue to live as squatters across the country, purely because the land ownership system has been compromised.

Every internal conflict since independence, including the Baragoi masscare, Tana killings and the 2007-08 post-election violence, are related to land disputes.

How then can Kenyans who have suffered land alienation, whether they are from Central Kenya, Rift Valley, the Coast or Nairobi not agree with Raila when he says that a product of Kenya's historical land injustices cannot be expected to solve such injustices?

In fact is it not morally repugnant for someone associated with such history to purport to have the solution to the inequalities in land ownership?

Ngunjiri Wambugu is the director of political affairs at the Raila Odinga presidential campaign secretariat.




Uhuru Kenyatta Has No Moral Authority To Solve Kenya's Land Problems | The Star

When Uhuru Kenyatta tried to come out challenging his opponents on this land issue I said to myself "Careful what you
wish for son of Jomo"...various people have come taken up his challenge showing some of the chunks of the land that he
holds under his family name. Others have questioned his moral authority to lead the country towards addressing land reforms,
something which his predecessor has obviously refused to touch. The reason is clear, that the biggest perpetrators of these
injustices cannot be expected to be impartial when it comes to addressing The Land Question in Kenya.

Now that the heat has become to much in the Kitchen, Uhuru Kenyatta starts to get this support from government agencies like the NCIC, trying to muzzle freedom of speech.If people can address historical injustices why are the Mau Mau in London suing Her Majesty's Government for the horrors of colonialism and seeking payment? Why do we have history books telling us about the atrocities of the colonial masters, including land alienation practices that are a direct precursor to the land problems that Kenyans are experiencing?

Lets cancel all these books and re-write the curriculum so that we avoid talking on all matters touching on land!



Candidates warned against land remarks





By LEONARD MUTINDA lmutinda@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Monday, February 4 2013 at 21:41

In Summary

• Cohesion team says the war of words between politicians on matter posed threat to unity
  

The cohesion commission on Monday warned politicians against politicising the emotive issue of land distribution in a bid to gain political mileage.The National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) said all matters touching on land should, instead, be left to the relevant institutions to resolve in the most appropriate manner.

NCIC chairman Mzalendo Kibunjia specifically expressed concern that the continued war of words between some prominent politicians on the issue was fast threatening to erode the gains made in fostering unity in the last four years.

He said the exchange could needlessly heighten tensions among voters.

"There are institutions formulated expressly to handle cases of injustice concerning land," he said.

Dr Kibunjia asked Kenyans to vote for leaders whose politics was not a threat to the country's continued peaceful co-existence.

"We must not accept leaders who make careless comments on the basis of issues touching on historical injustice such as land," said Dr Kibunjia.

His appeal comes after heated exchange of words between Cord presidential flag bearer Raila Odinga and his Jubilee counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta.

Both have publicly questioned the legality of the acquisition of land and other valuable property by their respective families.

Last week, Mr Kenyatta said Mr Odinga should be investigated for propagating hate speech owing to his remarks on his (Uhuru's) family's wealth.

However, on Monday Dr Kibunjia said that "trading accusations and counter-accusations will do little to solve the problem".

He spoke when he opened a two-day training workshop for over 100 cohesion monitors ahead of next month's General Election.

According to Dr Kibunjia, there was a need to consistently monitor the cohesion status in each of the 47 counties in the run-up to the elections.

After the training, Dr Kibunjia said the cohesion monitors would be stationed in areas that had been identified as hotspots.

"They will be taught how to pick out hate speech as well as highlight issues that present an immediate threat to ethnic tensions," he said.

Candidates warned against land remarks - CAMPAIGN NEWS - elections.nation.co.ke

ODM reads mischief in NCIC, IG warning

The Orange Democratic Movement has accused a section of government officials of wanting to protect some presidential aspirants from public scrutiny.

ODM said this in response to warnings issued yesterday by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission and today by the Inspector General, that prohibited presidential aspirants from discussing historical injustices and land issues in the course of their campaigns.

ODM in a statement said that the issue of historical injustices and land have been of concern to Kenya since independence and have been principal issues on which every campaign since the reintroduction of multiparty democracy in the country since 1992.

The party in its statement further said that these issues are the same ones that the competitors in the Jubilee Alliance are unable to fully address.

"...the purpose of these warnings is to ensure that the Jubilee coalition and its presidential candidate are not called to account on issues of historical injustices and land." ODM in its statement said, adding that the warnings are an attempt to "censor debate in the presidential campaign and protect some presidential aspirants from public scrutiny,"

The NCIC chair Mzalendo Kibunjia yesterday cautioned leaders not to incite Kenyans on the basis of historical injustices when the country has " formed institutions to resolve them." Inspector General of Police David Kimayo issued a similar warning today refraining leaders from talking about land.

ODM reads mischief in NCIC, IG warning | The Star

To account for historical injustices needs a commission to investigate and prosecute all those that were privy to the happenings of the injustices. To say historical injutices and generalizing "historical injustices" is why those that come up with the term will utilize lobby groups and avoid the court systems at all costs.

You are very right Mr. kibunja, land remarks at this moment must stop and their commentetors warned severely. Where were these goons during their tenure in parliement to raise up these motions and come with conclusive bills that would reform such challanges. They are adamantly refusing to get out of the woods. Kenya should remain relevant at all costs, we have new constitution new roadmap to development vision 2030.

Ab-Titchaz said:

When Uhuru Kenyatta tried to come out challenging his opponents on this land issue I said to myself "Careful what you
wish for son of Jomo"...various people have come taken up his challenge showing some of the chunks of the land that he
holds under his family name. Others have questioned his moral authority to lead the country towards addressing land reforms,
something which his predecessor has obviously refused to touch. The reason is clear, that the biggest perpetrators of these
injustices cannot be expected to be impartial when it comes to addressing The Land Question in Kenya.

Now that the heat has become to much in the Kitchen, Uhuru Kenyatta starts to get this support from government agencies like the NCIC, trying to muzzle freedom of speech.If people can address historical injustices why are the Mau Mau in London suing Her Majesty's Government for the horrors of colonialism and seeking payment? Why do we have history books telling us about the atrocities of the colonial masters, including land alienation practices that are a direct precursor to the land problems that Kenyans are experiencing?

Lets cancel all these books and re-write the curriculum so that we avoid talking on all matters touching on land!

Click to expand...

That was one of the contentious issues at the Koffi Annan led mediation talks, seriously if Kenyans hacked each other over among others the land issue that has not been adequately addressed to date what makes you think it has become a less controversial issue to be made a campaign issue?

Dhuks said:

That was one of the contentious issues at the Koffi Annan led mediation talks, seriously if Kenyans hacked each other over among others the land issue that has not been adequately addressed to date what makes you think it has become a less controversial issue to be made a campaign issue?

Click to expand...

Kenyans hacked one another because the election had been stolen...not because land had been stolen.
When it comes to the hacking that you are talking about, there has to be a command structure that funds
and controls how these acts have to be done. Hio yote tutasikia huko Hague kadri m'da unavyozidi kusonga
...but thats a topic for another day.

To dictate what one can say is the same as curtailing somebody's freedom of speech. Everybody knows that
there is a land board committee of some kind that needs to be given teeth to bite into this contentious
mountain but we all know the powers that be will hear none of that.

Politics is a dirty game and more of a pig fight where anything goes. Uhuru challenged folks on this matter and
he is having it from day one.

"Maji ukishayavulia nguo lazima uyaoge tu..."

Land question divides experts and politicians right down the middle





By JULIUS SIGEI jsigei@ke.nationmedia.com and
PATRICK MAYOYO pmayoyo@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Wednesday, February 6 2013 at 21:28

In Summary

• "Historical injustices and land issues have been of concern to Kenyans since independence and have been the principal issues on what every presidential campaign has been run since the re-introduction of multi-party democracy in 1992. These matters are at the heart of reforms in our society and economy as enshrined in the Constitution," said a statement sent by Mr Eliud Owallo, the head of Mr Odinga's campaign
• "The second element in this debate is the corruption, ineptitude in the management of land and the attendant primitive accumulation by dispossession which has seen few people own huge tracts with multiple layers of claims to it," Mr Lumumba said.

Land is an emotive and sensitive issue, but that does not mean it has to be swept under the carpet, Kenya Land Alliance national co-ordinator Odenda Lumumba said on Wednesday.


Mr Lumumba said much of Kenya's economy was land-based and was key in ending poverty, ensuring food security and tackling unemployment.

"The second element in this debate is the corruption, ineptitude in the management of land and the attendant primitive accumulation by dispossession which has seen few people own huge tracts with multiple layers of claims to it," Mr Lumumba said.

He singled out Coast, Rift Valley, Central, Kisii, Nyanza and Kakamega, describing them as smoking zones of land issues which have never been addressed.

"A way should be found to say; yes, some have benefited excessively through inheritance and succession rights. How do we address it?"

Mr Ibrahim Mwathane of Land Development and Governance Institute said land was a socio-economic issue and a province of politicians.

"The only issue should be the slant with which the issue is being discussed," he said.

Mr Mwathane said the Constitution and the various land laws were comprehensive enough.

"What we should be hearing from politicians is a commitment to ensure the functioning of the National Land Commission," Mr Mwathane said.

He said what the politicians were currently engaging in were mere threats as no individual, even if he were the president, would do anything except through an institution.

"There is no way, for instance, in which private land can be seized unless by compensation as stipulated by law."

Moi University lecturer and policy analyst Nyaga Kindiki told politicians to restrict land issues to their manifestos.

"The land policy is very clear. Politicians should not interfere with what the Constitution stipulates clearly," said Prof Kindiki.

The Luhya council of elders criticised the Inspector-General of Police and the National Cohesion and Integration Commission over what it termed as attempts to gag Kenyans and the political class from discussing the emotive land issue.

The elders said the move by NCIC chairman Mzalendo Kibunjia and police boss David Kimaiyo was calculated to protect certain individuals in the presidential race.

And on Tuesday, Prime Minister Raila Odinga's campaign also weighed in, saying that Kenyan voters will note that the issues that were being censored were "the two matters the Jubilee coalition was unable to address."

"Historical injustices and land issues have been of concern to Kenyans since independence and have been the principal issues on what every presidential campaign has been run since the re-introduction of multi-party democracy in 1992. These matters are at the heart of reforms in our society and economy as enshrined in the Constitution," said a statement sent by Mr Eliud Owallo, the head of Mr Odinga's campaign.

The Cord presidential candidate has made land the centre of his campaign and last Wednesday he named his main rival in the presidential race, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, by name: "Recently, I spoke about returning grabbed land and today I am asking Uhuru to give up his land to the poor."

The Cord leadership has, however, not produced evidence to support their claims of such ownership.

Mr Kenyatta, the Jubilee coalition candidate, has defended himself against the accusations, saying all he had was his by right as it was not stolen.

During the launch of his manifesto on Sunday, he promised to radically reform land ownership if he wins the March 4 elections, dedicating 10 of the 37 minutes he spoke to the matter.

But he avoided speaking directly about the large tracts of land his family owns, only suggesting that it was bought from British settlers after independence in clean commercial transactions.

Described by experts as a ticking time bomb, the land problem is most acute at the Coast, with government documents saying absentee landlords own 77,700 hectares, almost the size of Kwale.

The documents put the total number of registered squatters at the Coast at 128,900.

"The land issue at this point in time should not be used as a campaign tool by candidates, its effect has been seen before," police chief Kimaiyo said on Monday.

On Monday, High Court judge David Majanja ordered President Kibaki to gazette the members of the National Land Commission within seven days.

The commission is headed by Dr Mohammed Swazuri. Its members are Dr Tomiik Konyimbi, Dr Rose Musyoka, Dr Samuel Tororei, Mr Silas Kinoti, Ms Abigael Mbagaya, Ms Muthoni Njogu, Mr Clement Lenanchuru and Mr Adan Khalif.

The civil society group sought to compel the president to gazette the names arguing that the delay had caused unnecessary panic and public anxiety among stakeholders interested on land issues.

The lobby argued that since then, the president had failed to perform his statutory duty and that the delay had caused loss of time needed to tackle land reforms and address injustices occasioned by previous land grabbing.

They accused the president of breaching the constitutional time limit allowing him to make the formal appointment adding that the continued delay is preventing the members from carrying out their mandate as outlined in the constitution.

Justice Majanja agreed with their submissions, ruling that the appointment of the chairperson and the commissioners is imperative and no cause had been shown why the president cannot implement it to give effect to provisions of Article 67 and 250 of the Constitution.

He ruled that failure to complete the appointment of the commissioners undermines the value of good governance since the body mandated to carry out land reforms remained in limbo for indeterminate period.

He said that all state officers including the president are required to abide by the law and dismissed arguments that the president was waiting for the establishment of County Land Management Boards before gazetting the commissioners.

He ruled that the argument was not tenable since the National Land Commission was a creation of the Constitution and cannot be equated to those created through legislation and that the Lands Act is clear in its provision that county land management boards does not in any way interfere with the commission.

Additional report by Erick Ngobilo

Land question divides experts and politicians right down the middle - CAMPAIGN NEWS - elections.nation.co.ke

Ab-Titchaz said:

Kenyans hacked one another because the election had been stolen...not because land had been stolen.

Click to expand...

But who stole the election? Kibaki?

Nyachae warns against gagging debate on land



Updated 3 hrs 50 mins ago

By ROBERT NYASATO


Kisii, Kenya: Presidential candidates cannot be gagged from discussing land issues during their campaigns, Constitution Implementation Commission (CIC) chairman Charles Nyachae has said.

Quoting Press reports attributed to National Cohesion and Integration Commision (NCIC) chairman Mzalendo Kibunja and Inspector General of Police David Kimayio asking presidential aspirants to avoid land matters in their campaigns, Mr Nyachae said the caveats were unconstitutional.

Addressing a press conference in Kisii Wednesday, Nyachae said politicians were free to make land issues their subject matter in their campaigns.

"It is a legitimate political right of those campaigning to discuss issues touching on the Constitution - land included," he said.

He warned against outlawing talk on land matters on grounds of being sensitive or emotive, adding that unemployment and integrity were equally critical matters but politicians were yet to be barred from highlighting them in the campaigns.

The chair said what should be of concern to the authorities is the manner in which the discussions are made, but so far nobody had violated the law.

"It is completely unacceptable for anybody to seek to delegitimise land issues during this electioneering period," he warned.

Nyachae said the utterances by NCIC and IGP were tantamount to creating problems where there was none. "This would greatly undermine the democratic process and fundamental rights as enshrined in the Constitution."

In recent days, presidential campaigns have been charged with Cord presidential candidate, Prime Minister Raila Odinga hitting at his Jubilee competitor, Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta over land reforms.

Raila and his partners in CORD including his running mate, Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka and Trade Minister Moses Wetangula have maintained Uhuru cannot be entrusted with initiating and implementing land reforms in the country due to perceived personal conflict.

But in response, Uhuru has challenged Raila to table evidence that he owns large chunks of land in the country.

Kimaiyo had warned that land ownership is a highly emotive issue and was linked to the 2008 post-eelction violence.

Standard Digital News - Kenya : Kenya : Nyachae warns against gagging debate on land

Nyani Ngabu said:

But who stole the election? Kibaki?

Click to expand...

I believe you are either calling my bluff or "you are the only person in Jerusalem who hasn't heard the news..."...:A S 100:

I will answer thus....the official government sanctioned report, The Kriegler Report concluded...

The commission found that there were too many electoral malpractices from several regions perpetrated by all the contesting parties to conclusively establish which candidate won the December 2007 Presidential elections. Such malpractices included widespread bribery, vote buying, intimidation and ballot stuffing by both sides, as well as incompetence from the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK), which was shortly thereafter disbanded by the new Parliament.

Click to expand...

Yet in these circumstances somebody went ahead and orchestrated a civilian coup and got himself
sworn in the cover of darkness..(don't worry about lack of protocol that includes invitation of
dignitaries etc...). Then whatever followed after that become Kenya's darkest moment in her
post-colonial history with the ramifications having to be adjudicated at The Hague.

There is a naked emperor siting on the throne, memsahib!

Framing the Land Debate in Kenya

By Guest Author | Sat, 02/02/2013 05:52PM -0500

If there's one thing I'd beg of Kenyans, especially those well-intentioned towards maintaining peace through this elections period, do not attempt to kill the debate on land. Yes, it is hot, emotive and volatile. It is for these very fearful reasons that we need to have this debate to its wholesome conclusion.

A pending election, an unstable social order and a traumatic memory, all in our collective psyche, should not be a reason for us to suppress this debate in order to ensure peace. Its time has come. We need to frame it appropriately.

We do not have a non-partisan national debates institution that can take us through the process of framing and steering, and none of the capable institutions have stepped up to the plate, so we have to find a way of doing this within the non-formal platforms already in place, be they social media or select groups.

The corporate media are at best, ignition platforms for debates, and in my own opinion, compromised and purely profit-driven, therefore far from being the appropriate conduits for prolonged non-partisan debates on national issues.

Here are my suggested framing points:

1. Politicians: We must not allow political candidates and their campaign machinery to control the debate in their favor. When propaganda on land issues is peddled from political podiums, it's our responsibility to do the research and confront them with facts.
2. Wananchi: It's also our responsibility as the electorate to accept the facts about our preferred candidates should they be implicated in land-theft issues, and demand a response from them as to how they intend to lead and solve the problem. Don't be a sycophant. Sycophancy constipates debate.
3. Justice: Let our goal be justice for the people who have long suffered displacement and poverty as a result of theft of their land and poor land administration policies. This needs the functioning of a justice system that efficiently settles land disputes, not endless commissions on land.
4. Economy: Let our overarching goal in land ownership be the growing of a healthy national economy where no one is homeless or hungry. Food and shelter are fundamental human rights that can and must be guaranteed for all Kenyan citizens. It's not utopian; it's achievable.
5. The universal story: In the course of debate, let's embrace the logical as well as the emotional with a sense of maturity. The best way to frame the emotional is by drawing parallels with other peoples who've suffered a similar fate, e.g., the Native Americans. Therein, we might come across solutions others have successfully implemented, or avoid mistakes they've made on their way to healing.
6. The personal story: Let's be truthful in the stories we tell, compassionate in acknowledging those stories, and purposeful in presenting our demands for restitution and reconstruction to the leadership. Following 2007 pev, I learnt a painful lesson: when a friend or neighbor becomes a bitter foe, don't curse them; find their story. Yes, even we in the diaspora suffered the repurcussions of what happened a thousand miles away!

Truth is, abroad or at home, we all still carry in us the inherited sting of a colonized people, the bile of festered, unresolved injustices done to us and to each other. The debate about land is an inward journey about belonging, identity and human dignity. We owe ourselves this inward journey, tough and fearful as it may be.

If you determine that you never want to see a fellow Kenyan living in such inhuman conditions in the slums and camps of Kenya's brutal poverty and displacement; if you determine that you never want to see a fellow human being slowly die of hunger when another hoards excess harvest; if you are determined that you never wish to see another child, young man, or mother thrown onto a lorry like garbage after their house has been torched; if you are determined to never see the build-up of militia incited to kill and maim in the name of freedom; then you owe it to yourself to have this debate. We can do this.

By Mkawasi Mcharo Hall.

The author is a playwright and director, an instructor on culture and regional competency (Africa), and a trustee of the Kenyan Community Abroad (KCA). mkawasi@baloziproductions.com.

Framing the Land Debate in Kenya | Mwakilishi.com

Ab-Titchaz said:

Kenyans hacked one another because the election had been stolen...not because land had been stolen.

Click to expand...

This is just simplistic, who among those that were hacked to death had "stolen an election"?. Do yourself some justice and read the whole article.

The main agenda items were to address the crisis, reconcile communities and mitigate against future conflicts. These items were:
i. Agenda item one to stop violence and restore fundamental rights and liberties
ii. Agenda item two to address the humanitarian crisis that involved resettlement of internally displaced people (IDPS)
iii. Agenda item three to resolve the political crisis
iv. Agenda item four to examine and address constitutional, legal and institutional reforms, poverty and inequality, youth unemployment and land reforms.

Click to expand...

Thats agenda four though there were more issues
http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-99032/why-annan-keeps-coming-kenya