Ogiek: Include graft, Mau land grabbing in BBI agenda

Members of the Ogiek community want corruption and land grabbing in Mau Forest to be part of the agenda in the ongoing Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) talks.

The Ogiek said restoration of Kenya's forest cover can never be achieved without talking about Mau forest and its plunder by subsequent regimes.

SPECIAL TRIBUNAL

Ogiek Council of Elders National Chairman Joseph Towett Kimaiywo said the government should form a special tribunal to resolve all pending cases on Mau Forest.

“The historical injustices against indigenous people such as Ogiek should form part of the big agenda on the restoration of the forest cover and environmental conservation. The BBI should be the launching pad,” said Mr Kimaiywo.

He said the runaway wage bill should be checked and the money saved used in conserving the environment.

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He added: “The salaries of president and his deputy, MPs, judges, chief officers and principal secretaries, ward reps, among other cadres in the public service, should be reviewed.”

HEAVY TAXES

“The government is imposing heavy taxes on ordinary citizens to pay salaries of these civil servants who are often reported in the media stealing public funds,” he complained.

Mr Kimaiywo said the Judiciary is unable to tackle runaway corruption in the country. He said: “The backlog of corruption cases reveals that the Judiciary is overwhelmed.”

“We have seen many corruption cases terminated and suspects go scot free. The best way to deal with this challenge is to form a special court to deal with corruption cases,” he said.

EXPERTS

He said: “It is time President Uhuru Kenyatta admitted that the Judiciary cannot deal with corruption cases. The solution lies in bringing experts from other countries to deal with graft and restore confidence of citizens in his government.” 

He said special tribunals had healed countries such as Rwanda and Kenya needs to do the same in the fight against graft.