I will first deal with your take on the tribal angle of land. There is a misconception that has been created deliberately by some politicians in Kenya that it is only Kikuyus, and specifically the Kenyattas, who own huge tracts of land. Sadly, this is not the case.

There are people from all tribes, wazungus, wahindis, international companies, local companies in Kenya who own huge tracts of land. Raila’s family is one of them, Mudavadi’s family, Kosgey and Ruto are big land owners, Balala’s family are big landowners at the coast, the Yusuf Haji family and clan are big land owners in the North East. So, please do no fall for this anti-Kikuyu propaganda. It is baseless.

Will the Jaramogi family give up East Africa Spectre Limited and the Molasses plant? I am given to understand that East Africa Spectre was started through the influence of Jomo Kenyatta and the Molasses one through the influence of Moi. Raila should lead from the front and voluntarily give up these properties!

Now – the justification for having big landowners is that it helped nurture a middle class in Kenya. If you are a good student of economics and history, you will realize that no society ever developed without a middle class. Infact, it has been observed in Kenya that we have been stable, as compared to our neighbours, because we have a sizeable middle class. I did not realise the impotance of a creating a middle class until I read Yoweri Museveni’s book (Sowing The Mustard Seed). Read this book. Museveni with all his faults, is a serious thinker. He deliberately set out to create a middle class and made a reasonable case. Our leaders at independence were shrewd enough to recognise that a middle class needed to be created – and pronto.

It is the same reason that Uhuru in his recent interview confidently and rightly argued that land reform is not about one family. That would be foolish. Land reform would basically involve every community in the republic. And as I said, those who are saying that land should be grabbed should tread very very carefully because that will be the beginning of chaos. It will mean subverting the constitutional arrangement arrived at at independence.

On the issue of federalism, I have no objection to it. However, Kenyans, again having been misled by greedy politicians, believe that federalism means chasing people who are not indigeneous to that region back to their ancestral lands. This again would be another recipe for chaos. It is exactly what happened in the RV and other areas in January. What kind of country would that be?

How do you propose to fund those areas that do not have much resources such as the North Rift, parts of Eastern and Coast?

Do you think that people from the richer jimbos such as central, nyanza, central rift will agree to provide funds for the poorer jimbos? I don’t think so.

Having given this matter considerable thought, I respectfully argue that what we need is more integration – not disintegration through majimbo.

IT can be observed that all the bloggers commenting eg CT,Josh,Keio,KE ,Mzeiya, Waweru agree on a Kenya based on real hard work and hard thought in the spirit of Steve Jobs

ALL blogers agree Kenyatta stole land and other things…..Moi followed on the footsteps and so is Kibaki…

However CT thinks such Kenya will not be posible unless certain basic standards are set ie…honour of property (interlectual and otherwise) be observed…the rule of blind law and justice be be adhered to….Steve Jobs sure must have found the american dream (justice..law…constitution etc) a fertile ground to propsper….CT thus advocates teaching the old thiefs a lesson so that it becomes a lesson to others too…..and forms a basis for trusting to invest in Kenya long term…….

Most of the others are saying something like this….Do not touch Kenyatta …It will cause chaos (he has his tribe)….Even if you touched his property it wont add Ugali to your plate…kind of logic

Being a Kenyan i can guess CT comes from a tribe outside Jomos and the rest are Jomos tribesmen…..

But its true if anyone touches Jomos property…we will see Nairobi burning (attacks from Jomos tribes)…THIS IS A FACT …….

THIS is a classic dilema of KENYA.and most of AFRICAN ‘NATIONS’..it was never founded to be a Nation (1885 berlin conference) by the wazungu…they were called and still are protectrates.
(did you see our protectors coming to protect us from ourselves in january )

But life goes on…We are supposed to compete with real nations like Japan,Germany,France..England etc? What do we do…GIVEN NO DEVELOPEMENT WILL TAKE UNLESS

1) The law is just and BLIND

IT WOULD HAVE BEEN Better if ONE TRIBE was dominant (over 80%) so that we could find a cultural basis for true nationhood….

For our case FEDERALISM would be the best option…a federation of Kenyas ethnic groups : see switzerland

Honestly comment on this …do NOT be politicaly correct…..

Did any of you know that Arthur Magugu (former Githunguri MP) is the biggest landowner in Nairobi? I bet you didn’t!

He owns more than 100000 hectares – situated between Eastlands and Thika.

Did you know that Karugu (former AG), Njonjo, Moi, Koinange and some wazungus own 600 acre coffee farms between Eastlands and Kiambu town? I bet you didn’t!

Do you know that Matiba, Kanyotu, Moi, Karume, Unilever, Williamson and other multinationals own 600 acre tea farms in Limuru? I bet you didn’t!

Do you imagine that these coffee/tea farms are going to be grabbed and given back to the so-called Kenyans? What would happen to coffee/tea production if these farms are handed out to people and subdivided as 1 acre plots?

These land was grabbed by the colonialists before independence from specific families. These families are very much around today but they accepted the willing buyer willing seller arrangement as a way forward at independence. The deal was that they would be able to mobilize and buy land elsewhere. And they did. They organised themselves into cooperative societies and they bought properties and set up businesses all over Kenya.

If the land is to be grabbed from the current owners, then it should revert to those families. It is their ancestral land – aaaight CT? NOT YOU.

This is an idea that is dead in the water. This is another Zimbabwe in the making – for real!

KE

I know Matiba has done alot of philanthropic work. Infact, Matiba has been paying school fees for kids since the 1970s. I personally know an architect who was educated by Matiba right from High School to University – and there are many more.

Kenyatta was a thief. In theory, the willing buyer, willing seller proposition was a good one, but a majority of it’s benefits went to politically connected Kikuyu’s who did amass vast amounts of land at that time.

A lot of people don’t realize that a majority of Kikuyu’s were left poor and landless during Kenyatta’s time. I mean, massive amounts of beach front land was stolen in Mombasa. How do you think people like matiba and Eliud Mahihu were able to own hotels in the coast? they got the prime land at deflated prices and built hotels on it. Then of course, mama ngina’s massive amounts of land in Taita Taveta. That’s why the coast has all these landless peasants!

I for one, I’m just disappointed that these thieves don’t do any charity work or don’t give to any philanthropic organizations in Kenya. If Mama Ngina is not going to give up her land, she should at least do some good with her stolen money. Why can’t she build schools in Taita Taveta? build hospitals?

What do these people do with their stolen money?

If the land is to be grabbed from the big landowners, why should it go to the so-called Kenyans – yourself included?

You CT or any other Kenyan are not the owner of that land. Kenyans would have no claim to that land.

If this is to be the case, it should revert to its original owners. The families that owned the land before it was acquired by the colonialists. It should not go to the Kenyan state or government. The original families that owned the land occupied by the big farms and towns/cities are well known and they are still existing.

If there is to be any land reform, then it should go back to 1886 when Britain started demarcating land for itself in Kenya. And do not think I am hallucinating – I personally know what acreage was owned by my great great great grandfather in 1890.

However, like I said, this is not a solution. This will be the end of Kenya. The solution is the creation of new wealth as KE, Kei O, Mzeiya and others have put it.

Let us look forward – not backward.

Let it take 5 years… lets get the stolen land & its proceeds… coz the value runs into 10s of billions! It is worth every penny…

kenyattas own voyager… if GRH wa sold at KES 2.9billion then the voyager group would be worth more… then there are the hectares of PRIME land in Nairobi and Central… esp around Thika and Ruiru…

Ahh… then moi and ruto… of course, pattni and somaia… and let’s take a fresh look at raila…

I heard through the grapevine that the Mois used to own the Standard by proxy through Ruto. However, Ruto being the cunning character he is has refused to hand over alot of properties, land, vehicles and investments which the Mois had acquired by proxy through him – Standard being one of them. He knows the Mois cannot legitimately and/or publicly challenge him for these properties.

I heard in a recent meeting that the Mois have their own personal beef with Ruto because of these outstanding issues. They have vowed to take their revenge. A very ugly vendetta is building up.

No Honour Among Thieves they say.