Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 4.1
Natural resource conflict: marble offloaded by the local community (© M. Rutten).
and third, the original boundary separating the two counties should be re-established.
This last condition was surprising, but ultimately the result of the Maasai digging into
the archival records. In doing so, they learned that the original boundary between
the Maasai and Kamba in the Athi region was secretly tampered with around 1965
without their prior knowledge. The Maasai claim that the then Kamba spokesmen,
Paul Ngei, had approached President Jomo Kenyatta and requested the boundary be
altered so that the factory of EAPCC would be on Kamba territory. He had reasoned
that these Maasai have a wealth in wildlife (Amboseli National Park and Maasai Mara
National Reserve), and minerals (Magadi Soda, Kenya Marble and Kibini limestone)
among others, while the Kamba had nothing of the sort. Apparently Kenyatta agreed,
albeit at a cost. The Kamba should hand over the area of Oldonyo Sabuk to Central
Province, the province from which the President hailed.
The Maasai youngsters insisted that if their demands were not met, the Kamba
could keep the factory building, but then seek raw materials themselves elsewhere;
Kajiado County would no longer provide them. On January 9th the court ruled that
the two Maasai officials should be re-instated. However, on February 10th, President
Kibaki fired one of them once again and replaced him with another Maasai. Five days
later, the High Court made it clear that this was an illegal move as the government
was no longer a majority shareholder. The EAPCC conflict is a clear example of how
politics, expectations of wealth and natural resources intermingle and feed into the
different positions stakeholders take in a conflict of this nature.
4.7 THE NATURAL RESOURCES - CONFLICTS FRAMEWORK
The above deliberations will have clarified that there is a serious need to construct a
framework that will assist in the disentangling of the various elements and drivers in
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