Whatever the motives of the legislators, we can say that they certainly highlighted the plight of the landless and the poor in their constituencies. Ndile went further in naming the principal landgrabbers a few days later in parliament. He thus dealt a severe body blow to a fellow MP’s ambitions of ascending to the highest office in the land. The fact that the minister was adversely mentioned in illegal allocations of land in Yatta, Makueni and in his home town of Mwingi was brought to the nation’s attention.

However, I am baffled by the fact that the protest took place on the very day that the commission of inquiry into irregularly and illegally allocated land completed its investigations April 23. Did the two MPs present their complaints to the commission, like the rest of us? If they didn’t follow that particular channel, then they need to tell us why they did not participate in an inquiry established by their own ruling party. If they participated and handed over their research on grabbed land in Ukambani, then I wonder why they could not wait another few weeks for the release of the report.

These are questions that need to be answered because many of us spent months researching and preparing our submissions. Are the actions of the two MPs telling us to expect little from the commission? Or are they telling us that the government may well go through the motions of preparing a report but has neither the will nor the energy to go ahead and repossess the grabbed land? Worse still, could the findings of the commission be used to silence the opposition or as a bargaining tool in the constitutional review process? 

If the government is not sincere in seeing the exercise through, then we are all being taken for a ride and the consequences for the nation and its commitment to transitional justice are enormous. For months, we have been requesting the poor and the landless to act with restraint and await the outcome of the report of the commission. We have been advising squatters to be patient. Now, are the two MPs telling us that invasion and forced eviction is the only effective means of repossessing and redistributing grabbed land?

The government should not test the patience of the poor. Seeds of doubt about its commitment to fighting corruption are surfacing on a daily basis. The poor are getting more angry and organised. What happened in Ukambani could spread like wildfire throughout the country if the plight of squatters and the landless is not addressed as a matter of urgency. Legislators Kibwana and Ndile would be better advised to bring the fight to parliament. Should that fail, then they can resign their seats and lead the invasions and evictions. That should be a last resort and they can count on the support of activists in that exercise. 

FR GABRIEL DOLAN,
Catholic Justice and Peace 
Commission,
Kitale, Kenya
 

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