Hours before a Secretariat formed to oversee the restoration of the Mau complex was launched, Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai has dismissed it as of little significance.
The world-famous environmentalist held that the Secretariat was a political move and a ploy by the government to buy time and divert attention from the Mau evictions.
“The (secretariat) should tell the Prime Minister, ‘you do not need a committee, you have had a committee before, you have all the data you need to make a decision’. The only reason you are not making a decision now is because you are under pressure from your political friends,” she said.
Prof Maathai added that the government should put the lives of Kenyans first and stop holding citizens at ransom.
“And the question is now; who comes first, the friends or the country?” she posed.
The Nobel Laureate called on Kenyan leaders to stop succumbing to political pressure holding that they should deal with the Mau issue and stop focusing on winning the 2012 general elections.
“That is not what you expect from leadership; in leadership you have to make tough, sometimes painful decisions in order to save the country.”
She also explained that the Mau forest would start recovering from the damage caused by human invasion, if the settlers were evicted.
“The Kenyan government should start looking for long term solutions to avert future threats and crises. Once forests are left alone, they can very quickly start to regenerate on their own. But as long as there are people there, digging, burning charcoal, grazing; these forests will never recover!” she insisted.
Prof Maathai argued that the government’s inaction on the Mau and other environmental issues reflected negatively not only on Kenya but on the African continent as a whole.
“It is extremely important that politicians in Kenya realize that we are focused on as a country. People will judge us on what we do rather than what we say,” she explained.
Prof Maathai also faulted the government’s preparation for the expected El nino rains.
“We are expecting these rains but what has the government done to prepare the farmers?”
“Has it prepared any water storage facilities, have they cleared the silt-filled dams?” she charged.
Danish ambassador to Kenya Bo Jensen echoed Prof Maathai’s sentiments explaining that Kenya should prepare itself for the climatic changes being experienced the world over.
“We can only blame the floods and droughts in the world on the climatic changes that the world is experiencing. The Kenyan government should brace itself for the effects that these changes will bear on Kenya.”
He also noted that Kenya should trivialise the environment at its own peril, and explained that the Mau issue should be resolved
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ReplyDeleteThe journey to save the Mau complex, Kenya’s largest water tower, has started.
ReplyDeletePrime Minister Raila Odinga has launched an interim secretariat that would co-ordinate the implementation of a multi-stakeholder task force’s recommendations.
The report, adopted by Cabinet on July 30, calls for fencing the water tower as one of the ways of protecting it from destruction. It also recommends individuals living in the forest be relocated.
Yesterday, Raila told the 11-member secretariat the task ahead is ‘gigantic’, but they should not fail in their mandate.
The secretariat, which would also be responsible for the restoration of other water towers, is headed by former Rift Valley PC Hassan Noor Hassan.
"Your failure to deliver would disappoint the country and future generations," Raila said.
The overall objective of the secretariat, which has a two-year mandate, would be to co-ordinate the implementation of the short-term recommendations of the task force and to develop a framework for long-term measures to restore and manage Mau complex.
Co-Ordination Role
"It must be noted that the secretariat is not an implementing body, but a co-ordinating one.
"The implementations of the recommendations will be carried out by the relevant ministries and stakeholders," said Raila.
Pointing out the Government’s commitment to save the water tower, Raila said the dangers associated with depleted forests must be averted at all costs.
"From today, the journey of restoring Mau forest has begun. We must walk the talk. We know lives are involved but something has to be done," said Raila.
The task force has been approved by the Cabinet it is awaiting debate in Parliament.
Speaker Kenneth Marende gave the green light for commencement of debate on the matter. Chepalungu MP Isaac Ruto, a vocal critic of the matter, had sought to stop the debate arguing it was sub-judice, given there were several matters before the court on Mau.
Raila cited the consequences of a depleted Mau, saying Sondu Miriu hydropower plant is now running at 15 megawatts capacity instead of the requisite 60 megawatts.
All rivers feeding Lake Nakuru and its national park, he said, have also dried up as a result and wildlife in the park now depends on underground water.
"We do not just have the time to opt for half measures or for a less than truly integrated approach. We do not have the luxury of hoping some wonderful thing from the blue will eventually turn up and save us," said Raila.
Rift Valley MPs
The restoration of the 400,000-hectare complex has threatened to tear apart Raila’s ODM party, with politicians from the Rift Valley opposed to evictions.
Yesterday the PM said: "I want to invite fellow politicians to stop the game of incitement. We the politicians have a duty to muster the courage and the will to confront the problem."
And in response to Nobel Laureate Wangari’s Mathaai’s sentiments that the PM does not need a committee to save Mau, Raila said, "I want to tell Maathai, that this is not a task force. We have moved from task forces to implementation."