State blamed over Banita conflict

By VINCENT MABATUK

The two communities fighting over  land at Banita Settlement Scheme in Nakuru now want the profiling process repeated.

Speaking during a peace meeting organised by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC), they said the conflict was being engineered by the government and demanded a fresh resettlement.

A village elder, Santore ole Kemeiwo, said the two warring communities co-existed peacefully until the Narc government carried out a biased allocation exercise of the land.

The land in dispute was bought by the government from a foreign farmer and later allocated to squatters and post-election violence victims.

Another group later claimed entitlement to the same farm and has since been obstructing the other community’s use of it.

 “The land problem will never be settled unless the mess committed by the government is resolved and the genuine squatters considered,” said Ole Kemeiwo.

He said he was among squatters who approached former President Moi to ask the government to purchase the land for them, but they were locked out as soon as the land was bought.

According to him, it had been agreed that 60 per cent of the land would be allocated to the local communities and 40 per cent to outsiders, but it happened the other way round.

In March 2003, the government ordered fresh allocations of the controversial 17,000-acre Banita Settlement Scheme.

The then Lands and Settlement Minister Amos Kimunya reported that a new committee to oversee the allocation was to be formed comprising newly-elected leaders in the area. The minister stunned the locals when he announced that allotees were each required to pay Sh105,000 for five-acre plots.

However, NCIC vice-chairperson Milly Lwanga said the commission was aware of the cause of the conflict and said the communities involved must commit themselves to dialogue. She said the issue of land was sensitive and should be handled with utmost care by all stakeholders.

“The commission is aware of the land issues but the culture of displacing indigenous communities in favour of outsiders should be discouraged,” she said.

Amina Mwajuma, another squatter, alleged that land allocation was marred by political interference, adding that outsiders conducted land allocations and brought in their own people.

Four people sustained injuries from arrows in Banita last August when a group of youth attacked mourners at a funeral on the disputed settlement.

Accusations have been traded between the provincial administration and local leaders over the cause of the chaos.

The locals have accused the provincial administration of siding with one community in the conflict.