Kenyans are furious over revelations of how the Maasai Community of Kajiado and Narok Counties were tricked into into fraudulent land leases by conservationists, and, with the hand of former Nation Media Group boss Linus Gitahi.
With tags #StealingFromMaasai, people privy to inside details have given shocking revelations of how some people disguised as wildlife conservationists approached Maasai land owners in 2009 and leased pieces of land without giving the full details of the lease agreements.
What worries me is that the poor and some illiterate Masais signed some leases terms of which they know not of. They have asked for the copies of the leases in vain. @tunajibu @LinusGitahi @kwskenya @GreaterMara #StealingFromMaasai pic.twitter.com/tbckgkg4ia
— MARIGIRI?? (@Dmarigiri_) February 6, 2019
Further allegations against Gitahi are that he used his media influence to suppress stories that negatively touched on the conservationists.
“It is a fact that we have lost our rights in the past and we continue to lose our livelihoods. All we are asking for is that the land that belonged to us is returned to us,”
Narok North MP Moitalel ole Kenta.#StealingFromMaasai pic.twitter.com/spPZdgW6hq— Daniel Maithya ?? (@DanielMaithyaKE) February 6, 2019
Through their lawyer Chelanga Kihungi & Assocociates, the Maasai Community now want the conservancies brought to book for breaching agreements under which they deliberately failed to declare the full lease terms.
The Maasai have already served Mara North Conservancy, Mara North Holdings and Mara North Land Owners Association with notices demanding them to respond to the fraud allegations.
During the leasing, the companies failed to submit several licenses and also give copies of lease agreements to the local communities which is contrary to the Land Act 2012.
Under the law, a land owner is permitted to initiate a suit of the lease agreement is found to have been breached.
In the recent years, the Maasai herders have been engaging in unending wars with conservations ranch owners over grazing lands.
The conflicts are attributed to fraudulent land deals in which unsuspecting morans enter into lease agreements they do not fully understands.
The Maasai have also been left with little resources to cater for their families exposing them to hunger risk. The Maaasai are among the most impoverished communities in Kenya despite having large tracts of land.