I have been forced to delete the post that was "attacked" earlier today and I have re-posted here complete with the comments. Those who have always thought that I have been joking when talking about real enemies of the Kenyan people within the Kibaki regime, can now sample their first piece of evidence. These guys do not want Kenyans to know the truth about these scandals involving huge sums of money.
-Kumkeucha-
Monday, July 16, 2007
Scandal Bigger Than Anglo Leasing
For legal reasons I cannot say very much about this scandal that has been dubbed bigger than Anglo Leasing. But I will be able to do so very soon. The plot in question is a huge chunk hived off the world famous Masai Mara game reserve. If you are in a position to, just check details of the plot Talek 155.
Even a Google search on Telek 155 yields this link to a story that appeared in one of the dailies.
Several very prominent people in the current administration have been named as beneficiaries of this controversial allocation. This is probably the reason why no action has been taken over the petition lodged almost a year ago (see article for details).
Read more about Telek 155
posted by chris at 11:20 AM
6 Comments:
Magothe said...
Chris, unrelated topic. Some months ago, you did an interview with Kassam, he of the Trade Bank infamy. You know what the Bible says "evil flourishes when good men do nothing". Did this guy mention James Mwangi, Equity's CEO and how much moollah he carried away or didn't as the case maybe?
2:18 PM
derek said...
Magothe, there is no judge here. Please, as you have said it in unrelated, I maintain and I believe Chris will also say it that it is a totally unrelated topic and James Mwangi should find a better way of fending off his enemies. This was a matter that came up in parliament and I would not like to challenge that or comment on the contrary, but the privileges that it has within the august house will remain respectful to some extent, from me.
Now, the best thing to do is to contact Assam for a better answer or check with Mwangi if your chances of getting the truth can be settled.
I believe that Chris only opines and has no authority, legal or otherwise to draw conclusions on Trade Bank and associates.
Kindly observe protocol. Did Mwangi sleep with dogs? Believe you me, he will rise with fleas!
3:46 PM
Anonymous said...
Derek, didn't you know you spoke for Chris. Kwani Chris hana akili yake?
Like I said, they are many who pretend to be developing Kenya, but don't want to stand to be counted
10:27 PM
Magothe said...
Derek-Tx for your response.
Anon-tx for the your answer. Apparently, Derek suffers from an ailmnent known as "illusions of grandeur" for which despite extensive research, there is no known cure.
11:49 PM
Taabu said...
Hope we are not descending to the battlefield guys. First point of correction Bw. Magothe. The Kassam series of interview early this year were conducted by Std (Dr. John Mulla, US) and not Kumekucha.
That said, information is never old till you know it and your only sin was to ask. You gave a clear disclaimer that yours was an aside but it apparently pricked brother Derek and hence his bile. There is nothing like old and new thieves, JM can't hide under the plastic growth of Equity to cover his stinking dark past. We are no MPs to warrant lectures on parliamentary immunity. Otherwise everyything would be subjudice.
See, I am already sucked in it. As you can see in the heat of all this we miss the light and you can see that all the four posts above have nothing in response to the main post. Come on guys allow people to differ with you without being emotional. That is not asking for to much, or is it? Bring them on.
3:40 AM
Bwana, how is this Talek/155 plot scandal bigger than Anglo Leasing? Kumekucha I love your blog, but you have to choose your words coz I've noticed you have a tendency to exagerate or blow up issues unneccesarily. And when you do that, it gets us reading the post out of curiousity, but gets the reader very dissapointed when he discovers towards the end of the story that it really wasn't as big a story as you made it seem. And you've done this quite a few times with your stories.
ReplyDeleteI mean dont get me wrong, I certainly agree with you that this Talek plot deal smells of corruption at it's highest levels and it certainly demands attention from the KACC (Kenya Anti Corruption Commission), or better yet President Kibaki himself.
But having said that, this Talek issue is by no means bigger than the Anglo Leasing scandal like you claim in your post. The plot in question is 1,610 hectares or 3,976.7 acres to be precise. If we assign a "guessstimate" value of...say 2,000,000 per acre...and I doubt it would be that high in this remote part of the country...but even at 2 million P.A, the value of this scandal is 122.3 million Dollars or 7.952 billion shillings.
Anglo Leasing on the other hand, had a value of 663.99 million Dollars or 43.16 Billion Shillings. The latter figure is the value of all the contracts akina Murungaru,Kiraitu and Mwiraria wanted to steal from us, the Kenyan tax-payers.
Kumekucha as you can obviously see, Anglo leasing is a much, much bigger scandal than the Talek plot in question.
Nothing personal bana...I like your stories, but hard numbers tell the story alot better than emotion.
God bless Kenya.
My dear brother Gachinga,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your constructive criticism. I really apprecaite it.
Now I agree with your point of view. However I was looking at it from another angle. If this land allocation stands what impact will it have on the tourism industry over the next 50 years?
Anglo Leasing was a one off deal. This one could affect the country for many years to come. This is bthe reason why I have called it bigger than Anglo Leasing.
But of course the points you raise are valid and it is just a question of how you look at it.
Thanx and please keep reading.
-Kumekucha-
I tend to disagree with you chris. U see in Agro-leasing money lost may never be recovered because it hiden in foreign banks & all that.
ReplyDeleteBut YOU CANT HIDE LAND. If not in a few months, then in just over 5 years the the Government will change & the land can easily be repossessed (just like the bypassed)
Conclusion: If land is being grabbed in Maasai Mara, its a first degree offense but it cant beat Aglo-leasng. You are Exaggerating
A scandal is a scandal notwithstanding its monetary value Chris.
ReplyDeleteSo long as a land allocation letter has the right signatories - no court in Kenya can revoke it. The matter is complicated further because 'rubber stamp' cabinet ministers are normally very quick to gazette these allocations.
Land 'scandals' in Kenya involving prominent personalities and their families are numerous and well documented. Petitioning the president or seeking legal redress will not take you anywhere. Keep in mind that government does not sell land. Using constitutional powers, the president can 'lawfully' allocate public land to individuals or companies in whatever way he wishes. And if this is Talek issue is bigger than Anglo Leasing, then you should try and valuate the hundreds of thousands of hactares of prime land (said to be one third of Kenya's total land area) owned by just three families.
From what I read in this story Chris, its a controversy dating back to 1972, with Kibaki being the 3rd head of state since then. The issue has been subject to court process. The president has been petitioned. You can rest assured that petitioners will continue running into concrete walls so long as Mr. Ole Ntutu holds an allocation letter with the right signatory!
Unless handled delicately, LAND is a subject that will open a pandora's box that may result in Kenya being ungovernable. Dont forget, we are home to millions of squatters.
The environmental, economic and social effects of these allocations have far reaching consequences, and I think it is only a comprehensive reform of our constitution to devolve executive power that can halt this madness. You can imagine what will be left of Kenya after we go through 20 presidents with the current constitution! Recent events such as Kimunya declaring title deeds 'mere pieces of paper' or the president allocating Amboseli Wildlife Sanctuary to attract referendum votes are just but examples of constitutional failings that even render the court process useless.
hi.
ReplyDeletei felt compelled to contribute to this discussion. chris, the talek issue i believe is bigger than anglo leasing. Big does not relate merely to the financial implications. There are more nasty implications for kenyans in this. In any case no one really knows the real scale of anglo leasing. Whats with the promissory notes. Kimunya says they will not be redeeemed, we know they must be? Lets not split hairs. Where money is lost it can be regenerated, though this is extremely difficult. Its a bitter pill to swallow. Land when grabbed cannot. It is limited. You cannot generate land.
The implications i speak of are the 'impunity' with which talek was done. Did you know that people in the highest places in judiciary have an interest in talek. Not only that but who is it that is able to protect the likes of Ole Ntutu? believe me Ntutu is not the real beneficiary of the land hence the able interference of the decree ntutu holds. Did you know that the decree was given (saying ntutu is the owner of the land) without the court being shown an order from the commissioner of lands revoking the same allocation. The decree is faulty by law. Maasai mara is trust land. It CANNOT be allocated. It can only be adjudicated and this is a process that involves even parliament. When it was adjudicated there were 154 parcels. where did 155 come from? thats why the commissioner cancelled it. So who in court would give a decree if they had this info? and if they did not have it, who blocked them from accessing it?
The other implications are, once the investors in Mara find out that the land in Mara can be taken with such impunity what happens. Did you know that Mara Intrepids (Voyager) is on the grabbed land? what do the owners do? The lodge is worth 400m so who compensates them? When finally the dust settles the GOK may be forced to buy back Talek 155. For how much? You and i pay of course. Meanwhile who will be willing to invest in Mara (or in other parks and reserves) once they find out about this? Do you see now the ramifications, It will affect all investment in the tourism sector. Whats to stop other people then grabbing land in parks and reserves if Ntutu could get away with it then more will try. It sets a very very bad preceedent. Our Parks and reserves are one of the most delicate resources we have left. To ignore or downplay what is happening in Talek is to collectively as kenyans commit suicide. For the record, Kenya has only 2 percent forest cover remaining. The largest portion is in Samburu district (most people dont know this) the second largest is the Mau then Mt kenya and Aberdares. Did you know that Ntutu owns a company that have been allocated (illegally through falsely adjusting the size of group ranches)over 40,000 acres of Mau forest? Now what pray is that worth, Who is protecting this guy and why. Its in the Ndungu report. Now you see one of the reasons why that report will never be acted upon. Now you may get the real drift of why this is more than anglo leasing (at least in my opinion) The repercussions will be felt directly by all kenyans for a very long time to come