Reclaim the Mau or we are doomed

Finally, the full extent of the dangers facing Kenya, and other parts of the region, following the widespread destruction of the Mau Forest complex, is out in the open.

And the main actors in this looming tragedy are not ignorant villagers out to eke a living but people who should have known better. They include ministers in the former government, legislators, military officers, parastatal heads, provincial administrators and even religious leaders.

All this, and more, is contained in a 800-page report compiled by a committee set up by Prime Minister Raila Odinga in 2008, which has turned out to be a strong indictment of people who took advantage of their positions in government to acquire land in the Mau, seemingly oblivious of the damage their activities would cause to the ecosystem.

To make the matter worse, those who acquired the forest land, complete with title deeds, later sold the land to unsuspecting people who are now living in settlement schemes or individual holdings.

It now becomes clear why those who ‘‘ate’’ the forest have now become awesome defenders of their communities, inciting the settlers not to co-operate with the government in its effort to reclaim the Mau.

What they are not saying is that should the government make good its threat to evict the settlers, and it must, then they may be forced to return the money they made from these quite callous transactions.

But this is not the fundamental issue. The fact is, the destruction of the Mau is probably a bigger crime than all the grand scams that Kenyans have had to contend with since independence.

The reality is coming home to us inexorably: a healthy forest is directly related to the frequency with which surrounding areas get rain.

When people encroach on forests, fell trees and burn the undergrowth, they interfere with the ecosystem, leading to a rise in temperature, loss of moisture and fertile soil, and thus creeping desertification.

In other words, rains disappear, rivers dry up, lakes turn into muddy pools, animals flee or die, the soil loses its fertility, and people start holding out begging bowls for daily sustenance.

Under great threat

All these happenings have direct economic ramifications. Only recently, an official of the country’s biggest tea company, Finlays, warned that unless the Mau is reclaimed, his company would be forced to abandon tea growing, leading to the loss of 14,000 jobs, huge tax revenues, as well as other benefits.

But even this is a small matter compared to the loss of rivers that flow into lakes Victoria, Nakuru, Natron and others in the Rift Valley. Lake Nakuru, especially, may become history in a decade or less, while Lake Victoria is also under great threat.

This is not a trivial matter considering that this lake sustains the livelihoods of millions in the eastern African region, and is also the main source of the Nile, a river that is the lifeline for millions more in Sudan and Egypt.

The sad fact is that all these tragic consequences will have been caused by the greed of a few – individuals so myopic that they could never see their pursuit of quick wealth could mean the death of millions. These are the same people who are now threatening to unleash violence should ‘‘their people’’ be evicted.

The government has no choice but to call their bluff and repossess all the land excised from the Mau. This need not mean using brute coercion, for many of the settlers are innocent and should be resettled, but one thing must be made clear: The Mau must be salvaged.