Narok Senator Ledama Olekina has in recent weeks come out as a fiery defender of his ethnic Maasai community, framing his agitation as an indigenous land rights issue.
But are his agitations sound or is he just a tribal kingpin aspirant scouting for clout with 2022 elections in view?
This writer sat down for a conversation with the fiery senator in Nairobi and he doubled down on his stand, asserting that he has no apologies to make.
The controversy over Olekina started when he aired his concerns during a BBI meeting in Narok in February. In his remarks, the senator asserted that his Maasai community is crowded out in Narok and Kajiado counties by non-locals, who buy land and bring along members of their tribes.
He had also suggested that these "foreign" communities should be discouraged from settling in Maasailand and/or if they are allowed, they should be excluded from the local political and leadership elections.
During the interview, the senator said the interest of his Maasai community is the priority in his politics because "we have been terrorised, stigmatised, traumatised and pushed to the end because of our hospitality."
"Our way of life is that we are pastoralists. We keep thousands and thousands of cattle," he said, claiming without proof that due to this, most members of the community still do not understand elements of modern land ownership, including the concept of willing buyer willing seller when it comes to selling off their land.
He said the Maasai are being duped by land buyers from other communities into signing away all their land, leaving them without grazing fields.
"They buy the land at a far low price, taking advantage of my people and turning it into a concrete jungle, disregarding what we always do for a living," he said.
Pushed back on what his assertions would mean for the sanctity of the title deed and land ownership documents, Olekina said the bureaucracies of land management in the country have been used to manipulate the Maasais into signing their land off.
"The lands board in the county is led by a non-Maasai," he said, suggesting that unless the boards are led by natives, the interest of the locals won't be taken care of.
In particular, the Narok legislator argues that while he had no problem with people buying land and settling in Maasailand, he had issues with parcel subdivision into settlement spaces that put pressure on the land.
"We have always sold land to people. But buy that land and establish a large farm so that after you have harvested, we can allow our cattle herds into the farms. This is what we call coexisting," he explained.
"We will no longer allow people to buy land in Maasailand and subdivide it into small fractions and draw members of their community to come and squat there. In fact, we will no longer allow people to put up mabati structures within the town because this is the genesis of mushrooming of slums besides giving the town a bad image," he added.
"We must ensure full enforcement of land use policies in this country. You cannot come and crowd in a small piece of land, destroying it and forming slums at the expense of the local population. We won't allow," an emphatic Olekina said.
Further, the senator holds that while he does not disapprove of people from other tribes living the area, he "just wants them to assimilate."
"Even you [this writer] can come and buy land in our area but let the title deed read, besides your name, that this is originally Maasai ancestral land," he said.
This, he said, will be part of preserving the Maasai heritage.
He did not, however, explain how that does not bar anybody from ejecting non-locals who have bought land in the area legitimately and who've coexisted with the rest peacefully for long.
"The problem I have with some of the diasporas [non-indigenous communities] is that after they brought their people there, they want to have a say in our local issues. Maasai issues can only be articulated by a Maasai," he said.
Olekina wants the non-locals living in Narok and Kajiado to avoid local politics and only vote a Maasai candidate but not vie.
"If they want power, they should go back to their native areas."
The senator said if non-locals want to vie for any political office, "they should first assimilate and be part of the local dynamics before seeking to use their numbers to out-crowd us."
He evaded the question of whether it is fair for non-locals to contribute to the local socio-economic development, including paying taxes and creating jobs for the local population, yet they are relegated to voting and not standing for election.
Olekina is against what he calls the Manje ideology, referring to Kajiado North MP Joseph Manje, who clashed with during the BBI Narok rally when he attempted to articulate the problems facing the local community.
"He is coming to Kajiado, pulls along other members of his tribe and then wants to be their champion so that he gains favours with his tribe back home. That is unacceptable," he said.
"We must say the uncomfortable truth. Kenya is a tribal country and its leaders as well. I'm tribal, yes, and I have no apologies for that" he said.
OLE NTIMAMA WANNABE?
Olekina's agitations bear an eerie semblance with former Maasai politics supremo William ole Ntimama, whose chequered political career was marked by repeated episodes of ethnic campaign.
A casual perusal of the most recent Maasai land polity returns a general trend of the leaders from the area, like the many tribal chieftains in the country, who perfect the art of forging a victim mindset into the most gullible in their ethnic collectives as a vote mobilisation strategy when they aspire higher.
For example, Ntimama, a long-serving Narok North MP, often got on the wrong side of the law for his anti-non-Maasai locals campaign in the two counties, especially during elections.
His agitation was always on land use, often warning that they risked eviction unless they surrendered the parcels willingly to the local community.
For example, in 2006, Ntimama's line of argument — like Olekina —demanded that those who had bought land return it to the local community since "they manipulated the locals to sell cheaply and the titles were fake".
At the time, the Mwai Kibaki government had planned to make Narok South a district. He mobilised more than 40 councillors and local politicians for a meeting and later a demonstration in Narok town against the plan.
"They took advantage of the Maasai and cheated them out of their land lakini sasa wajue tumegutuka (they should know we are now aware of these schemes)," Ntimama was quoted telling the charged gathering.
In July 2005, when some Rift Valley MPs urged forest settlers evicted from the Mau forest to return, he promptly warned that the returnees would be met with stiff resistance if they did.
He is also remembered for telling non-ethnic Maasais living in Narok in the early 1990s, to "lie low like an envelope'' or be "cut down to size" for seeking to have a say in local politics.
There were deadly clashes in Enoosupukia area against Kikuyus living in the area in 1991 — in the run-up to the 1992 polls.
Coincidentally, Just like Ntimama, Olekina has been vocal in pushing for eviction of Mau forest dwellers, an exercise that put him at loggerheads with politicians from the Rift Valley.
"Forest is our lifeline," he told this writer in regards to the Mau evictions.
"With forests, we get rain for pasture and water for our animals. So, its a matter of life and death for our people and I'm proud to defend them at any time," he added.
Asked about perceptions that he was a Ntimama-wannabe, Olekina asserted that he actually admired "the totality of the legacy of Ntimama for championing our community interests."
