        |
|
The evidence of Maasai involvement in the violence is compelling. Amnesty International reported a Maasai attack on Kikuyus in the Narok District of Rift Valley Province in 1993;14 the incident included acts of murder, arson and robbery. These acts might well have been anticipated, due to the fact that they occurred within the zone of current Maasai occupation amidst threats of dispossession by incoming immigrants from the more violent region further north. However, the Kikuyu who were attacked had bought their land thirty years earlier, so it seems clear that the incident was more strongly related to the wave of post-1992 violence than to prolonged suffering.
Moi has two very important Maasai officials in his government, including Vice-President George Saitoti, and William ole Ntimama, the Minister of Local Government and Member of Parliament of Northern Narok District. Both are major proponents of Majimboist policy.15 Ntimama has been implicated as one of the engineers behind the land-grabbing in the Rift Valley; he was also the leader of the delegation of the MDA that attended both the 1993 Vienna World Conference on Human Rights and the 1993 meeting of the UNWGIP. Human Rights Watch/Africa reports that "In June 1993, at the Vienna World Conference on Human Rights, a photo exhibition on the ethnic clashes mounted by [prominent environmentalist Wangari] Maathai was vandalized by a delegation of `traditional Maasais.' The delegation of Maasais, led by Local Government Minister William ole Ntimama, had been sponsored by the government to represent Kenya's indigenous peoples."16
Other excerpts from the 1993 publication of Human Rights Watch/Africa (entitled Divide and Rule) implicating the Maasai with Majimbo policy include the following:
"In March 1993, a group of Maasais dressed in traditional costume attacked opposition supporters at the state opening of Parliament. Maasai MP William ole Ntimama held a press conference, stating that the Maasais had acted in self defense. A month later, KANU Secretary General Joseph Kamotho publicly admitted that the Maasai were part of a 3000-strong youth squad hired by KANU for the occasion to `deal with the opposition supporters.'"17
"...on October 12, 1993, clashes broke out south of the security operation in Enosupukia, Narok District. Houses of Kikuyus at Gatima farm were torched by Maasais in the early morning, leaving four dead. Police reinforcements were deployed in the area; however, the violence continued. On October 15, 1993, approximately 500 armed men wearing traditional Maasai dress (shukas) carrying knives and sharpened sticks attacked Enosupukia. Kikuyus who sought refuge from the attackers in the nearby Mission Church were also attacked by the Maasais. The district officer ordered the police reinforcements that had been sent to Enosupukia to return to Nakuru District on the grounds that Narok District was not their area of jurisdiction. After the police left, there was a second attack which left seventeen Kikuyu dead. The Catholic church estimated that the clashes had left 30,000 people displaced. The government has not provided any food relief for the displaced. As of October 26, 1993, attacks were still continuing in Narok District and large areas of land remained deserted by the thousands of Kikuyus who have fled in fear for their lives."18
"Minister of Local Government William ole Ntimama is renowned for his inflammatory comments, all of which have gone uncensured by the government. Before the election, Mr. Ntimama told all `outsiders' to leave Narok and warned Kikuyus in his area to `lie low like envelopes.' He has also asserted that `non-Maasais should not be allowed to vote' in his area (Narok District). In April 1993, he reportedly said `we will protect President Moido or die.' Addressing his comments to `the original Rift Valley people,' he called on Kalenjins and Maasais to `be ready to defend yourselves.'"19
Notwithstanding Ntimama's leadership of the MDA delegation to the Vienna Human Rights Conference and the UNWGIP, whether to regard his role as more closely associated with the ruling elite or the Maasai in general is a question that must surely emerge for observers and advocates of Maasai as the subject of indigenous rights. Unfortunately, the violence which is based primarily upon Kalenjin indigenous claims against Kikuyu "black colonialists" has impacted tens of thousands of people in western Kenya. As Kikuyu-occupied areas fall into Kalenjin hands, desperate Kikuyu encroach increasingly on Maasai lands, which opens up another avenue for violence since the Maasai living and grazing space is drastically reduced as a result. And the Maasai have been squeezed to the point where there are simply no lands left which they might occupy in peace.20
Fourth World Bulletin • Spring/Summer 1996
Copyright © 1996 by the Fourth World Center
Created by Aigis Communications, Ltd