Raila takes on Uhuru over Mau payout

Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Tuesday traded accusations over Mau payouts with his deputy and Finance minister, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, in an embarrassing public spat.

Mr Odinga issued a statement accusing Mr Kenyatta of “political chicanery” over the latter’s denial of a plan to pay big shot land owners compensation.

In a strong statement issued by his spokesman, Mr Odinga said that Mr Kenyatta and his Forestry counterpart, Dr Noah Wekesa, were “playing politics” when they denied on Monday that the government intended to pay the so-called Big Fish Mau settlers.

But Mr Kenyatta shot back in a similar statement: “The Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta has never at any time tried to play politics with the issue of Mau forest complex, and the allegation is not only baseless and unsustainable, but is in itself playing politics with Mau.”

On Monday, Mr Kenyatta, accompanied by Forestry minister Dr Noah Wekesa had said: “We at the Treasury and the Ministry of Forestry can categorically state that there has never been any discussion of any nature with any individual or company for compensation of any kind.”

On Tuesday, Mr Odinga said MPs amended the motion for the adoption of the Mau task force report to require that the government pays settlers and the House should take responsibility for the colossal sums of money to be paid to both small and large scale settlers.

Settle squatters

He took exception to Mr Kenyatta’s announcement that the government would settle the squatters evicted from South Western Mau and accused the Finance ministry of taking contradictory positions.

“The ministry now wants to compensate these people, who have no legal claim to land they occupied — and yet, despite Parliament’s amendment, it wants to pay nothing to those who do have title deeds. Again, these contradictions emanating from the Finance Ministry amount to nothing more than political chicanery,” Mr Odinga said.

Mr Kenyatta rebutted: “The matter of resettlement of Mau evictees has been discussed by government, on humanitarian grounds, but there has been no discussion on compensation on large landholders”, adding, Treasury would jealously guard taxpayers’ money.

Mr Kenyatta insisted that the ministry of Finance had not entered into consultations with large land owners nor had he received any communication from the government for any valuation or intent to pay large land owners.

“We have not factored any such payments into the current budget,” he said.

The PM described the MPs who supported the amendment motion as having acted out of “irresponsible personal and political motives” .

Prominent people in the Moi regime, including the former president himself, were allocated thousands of acres in the Mau.

The debate has been whether the undeserving settlers, who occupy land initially intended for landless victims of ethnic clashes, are entitled to any compensation, if they have title deeds.

In 2007, the burning of houses and eviction of Mau squatters in 2005 was one of the many grievances which cost President Kibaki votes in the Rift Valley.

The eviction of settlers, many of them profiteers without a claim to government land, is shaping up to be a political minefield for Mr Odinga.

The PM, whose office is coordinating conservation efforts, had promised that squatters would be treated humanely. Indeed, all moved out voluntarily, fearing a repeat of the 2005 use of force.

But the squatters, some of them not genuine, have camped on roadsides and live in horrid conditions, undermining the government case that the eviction has taken into account the welfare of the forest families.

Rift Valley MPs, who have fallen out with the PM, have used the condition of the squatters to argue that Mr Odinga did not keep the promise to treat the settlers, many who voted for him, well.

The PM’s statement termed denial that big landowners would be compensated a “political game”, saying: “The plan...was passed by Parliament, following an amendment to the Bill adopting the Report of the Government’s Task Force on the Conservation of the Mau Forest Complex, laid in the House on Wednesday, 12th August, 2009. In its original form, the Task Force Report had contained no provision for compensation,” he said.

Mr Odinga accused Mr Kenyatta and Dr Wekesa of shifting the compensation responsibility to his office.

“Neither the Finance nor the Forestry ministry can now turn round and claim that they are unaware of this amendment and its financial implications,” he said.

The spat was triggered by a report carried by the Sunday Nation which detailed estimates of a possible payout to Mr Moi, his former private secretary Joshua Kulei, businessman Hosea Kiplagat and Kanu vice-chairman Gideon Moi based on their land holdings and current land values.

The report also relied on government sources saying the big shot landowners would be paid Sh2 billion.

An official in the Office of the Prime Minister, who asked not to be named, claimed that a compensation plan had been worked out and that Mr Kenyatta, Dr Wekesa and Special Programmes minister Naomi Shaban knew about it.

The official further claimed that the compensation package would range between Sh2 billion and Sh8.6 billion. He did not say how the figures were computed though he did allege that Dr Wekesa opposed all compensation plans while Dr Shaban and Mr Kenyatta did not object.

In his statement, Mr Odinga said the amendment to the Mau Task Force report was moved by Turkana Central MP Ekwee Ethuro who argued that taking land from civilians attracted compensation under the Lands Acquisition Act and the Registered Land Act.

He added that MPs were to blame for the costly financial burden they have placed on taxpayers and urged them to stop condemning the revelation of the payouts.

“And with that vote, those MPs committed Kenyans to looking for money for Mau compensation that our country, devastated by drought and food shortages, cannot afford,” he said.

He said MPs from an alliance which he did not name pressed for blanket compensation to gain political mileage.

The MP may have been referring to an emerging political triumvirate of Mr Kenyatta, Agriculture minister William Ruto and Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka.

Mr Odinga said Mr Kenyatta was in the House during the debate, but did not draw the attention of MPs to the financial cost of the amendment.

The ministries of Lands, Special Programmes and Internal Security were also involved in the secretariat headed by former provincial commissioner Hassan Noor Hassan.

The conduct of MPs, Mr Odinga charged, raised questions about the integrity of the House, which he said, was being used to drive personal political interests.

He warned that solutions to the long list of challenges facing Kenyans may never be found if “these irresponsible games are allowed to continue.”

“...Kenyans are tired of being taken for a ride. They are tired of losing out while those in a position to save them play politics for their own personal ends,” the PM said in apparent reference to a meeting at State House during which Mr Ruto argued for Sh1 billion to be used to resettle the evictees. “I can confirm the State House meeting but I have not been to any other meeting where the Sh2 billion was discussed,” Mr Ruto said recently.

“Those people currently living by the roadside are Kenyans, at the very least human beings, who deserve to be settled. Those who own huge tracts of land can be sorted by the law,” he said.

However, MPs Julius Kones and Jushua Kutuny questioned Mr Odinga’s honesty arguing that he supported the amended motion at the time of debate.

Mr Kutuny said the PM appeared to be supporting compensation of the political heavyweights while throwing poor Kenyans on the roadside.

Mr Odinga has said those evicted do not deserve any payment because they illegally encroached on the forest.