Syokimau an opportunity to address land issues in kenya

When I saw the big mansions in Syokimau come down, I could not help but wonder what kind of a government would do that to its people. Every kenyan who is serious in investing in a home has known for the last 4 years that Syokimau is the place to look, so how come the government was blind to all the investment buzz around the area. But this is not just about Syokimau but also all the informal settlements that have year in year out faced the same predicament, the only difference this time round its the middle class that has been rattled by the government, something this government will regret for its remaining term.

I however want to look at the land saga from a different lens. Any kenyan will tell you that land is the cause of conflict in this country dating back to independence. The more we talk about land reforms the worse the situation gets and it makes you wonder if kenya is approaching this from the right angle. The current demolitions however give us an opportunity to approach this differently from how we have done in the past. When the Mau saga broke out, we all expected the reforms to hit the core of the problem but all we saw was poor kenyans who like Syokimau residents, had been duped into buying illegal property without protection from the government whatsoever. Since then we have been waiting for the big fish to be kicked out but instead what we got was a commission to investigate, something any kenyan will tell you has never worked in this country.

Like Mau, this is exactly what is going to happen to Syokimau. politics will be played at the cost of poor kenyans then the ruling class will retain the spoils when the dust settles down. The reason I compare the two is because, kenyans must wake up and smell the coffee, there is no such thing as land reforms, the political class is just playing politics with the issues. The solution can only come if kenyans demand justice dating back to 1963. the Ndugu report should be the starting point as it provides the history of land injustice in kenya. Kenyans should demand that the ruling class who benefited from land stolen from kenyans after independence be reverted back to government. The soon to be formed land commission (we can all hope) should then be tasked with the responsibility of handing the problem. Of course its easier said than done, but until we take that difficult path, innocent kenyans will continue to suffer at the hands of the politically correct leaders who have mastered the art of getting themselves out of any scandals. If we have learnt anything from Syokimau, its that the political class will stop at nothing to get what it wants.