Wekesa changes tune

The government will compensate big shots who own land in the Mau Forest for the investments on their farms, Cabinet minister Noah Wekesa has said.

In what appeared to be backing down from the previous hard-line position on the payouts, Dr Wekesa, who is the Forestry minister, said the beneficiaries will be required to provide valid documents.
Dr Wekesa also down-played the spat between Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta over the compensation of big landowners in the country’s largest water tower. “Perhaps the PM was not properly briefed on the matter,” the minister told the Nation.

However, Dr Wekesa said, the government will not be paying for the land. “After all, the government cannot buy back its own land … most of these people got the land for free,” he added.

He said the government will have to “negotiate with the encroachers” on a suitable compensation package for the investments on their farms.
Also, the unique cases in which the original allottees of the land sold parcels to other people will see the current owners go home with a substantial token from the government. But, this is not guaranteed, as the government will first have to study the agreements between the original allottee and the buyer to decide if it will pay for the land.

Dr Wekesa also confirmed that Sh1 billion had been earmarked for squatters who did not have legal claim on the land.

But Mr Odinga has an issue with the Sh1 billion package because “even the amendment in Parliament did not cover them (squatters).”
However, Dr Wekesa said that the package was for “very many people” who are languishing in roadside camps.

“All those with proper documents will be paid,” said the Forestry minister. “The amendment in Parliament did direct that the government follows the law in implementing the report’s recommendations.”

He was quick to point out that “nothing had been agreed” with regard to the total compensation kitty.

According to the PM, those with valid documents and with a legal claim to the land will be paid as long as they can prove that money changed hands.

Essentially, the PM, Dr Wekesa and Mr Kenyatta, who is also the deputy Prime Minister, seem to be talking the same language, with the only point of departure between the PM and Mr Kenyatta being the compensation of the squatters.

On Wednesday, one of those who amended the Mau report to favour the squatters right to life, assistant minister Ndiritu Muriithi, accused the PM of insisting that Parliament did endorse the payout for all landowners.

But what the assistant minister did not clarify was whether the amendment by Turkana Central MP Ekwee Ethuro to have the government respect the sanctity of the titles had any impact on the implementation of the report.

The MPs were unanimous that those with genuine title deeds be compensated. They also agreed that those title holders, who may have acquired the land illegally, be kicked out without any compensation.

The Industrialization assistant minister read that politics into the matter, saying that the PM was trying to drive a wedge between Mr Kenyatta and Agriculture minister William Ruto.