By Kendi Borona
About LAND and ENVIRONMENT in Kenya Colony INC.
1.The Kipsigis people are demanding their land back from the British & Kenyan govt. Their land was stolen and turned into tea plantations.
2. The Maasai have been demanding for their stolen land for decades. It was turned into National Parks, ranches, and now – CONservancies.
3. The Taita, Mijikenda, Pokomo have been crying about historical land injustices at the Coast for decades.
4. The Kikuyu people of Murang’a County are demanding to have their land, which was turned into a pineapple plantation back.
5. The Akamba and several other communities have been dislocated from their land so that conservation areas can be created.
6. The Turkana are embroiled in battles with oil drilling and wind power production companies in the north.
7. The Rift Valley is an arena of conflict tied to land – involving various communities.
And so on and so forth…
Land and land-related issues are a powder keg in Kenya Colony Inc. Yes, Kenya is still a colony. Colonized externally and internally.
Question(s): How many Kenyans emerge out of universities with a proper understanding of the history of land, land dispossession, or land and governance in Kenya Colony? How many universities have environmental/other programs designed to ensure that this happens?
Let me use myself as a case study. I was at a university that was teaching environmental studies. Not once were we ever taught anything about the history of land and land dispossession in Kenya. Land was not presented as an environmental issue – as ironical as that may sound. Teaching anything to do with environment in Kenya Colony without a serious engagement with land is to de-politicize and de-historicize environmental issues in the colony. It is also gross MISEDUCATION.
Aside: One of our lecturers used to teach us about the American conglomerate, Du Pont, as an example of an environmentally friendly company. You cannot imagine my shock and horror when I learnt that Du Pont started off its business with the manufacture of weapons of war, then moved on to manufacture of agro-chemicals, when the manufacture of war weapons became less lucrative. Note: Agro-chemicals are also weapons of war! Both weapons of war are EXTREMELY environmentally destructive.
I only started taking an interest in land as a central environmental issue during the course of my doctoral research. And this was through interaction with elders. All the credit goes to them. Elders are the celebrated intellectuals in Africa!
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