Other Attempts by the Maasai to Review the Historical Injustices: The Lancaster Conference

The Lancaster Conference. The Maasai raised the issue of lost land before the East Africa Royal Commission and the Lancaster House Conference when the independent Constitution was being negotiated. The Maasai delegation declined to accept the negotiated settlement for a new Constitution. The report of the conference states thus:

"15. At the meeting between the Representative Group of the Conference and the Maasai Delegation raised a number of questions relating to the Agreements made with the Maasai in 1904 and 1911. Copies of the Agreements are in the appendix.

"17. The Representation made by the Maasai delegation were to the following effect:- i) The lands, which the Maasai vacated in accordance with the Agreements, belonged to the Maasai. The Maasai wanted their ownership to be recognised and to have first claim on these lands when they are vacant by the Europeans who now farmed them... .The Maasai delegation did not accept that they had no claims in respect of the lands which the Maasai had vacated under the Agreements".

The Commission of Inquiry into Land Law Systems of Kenya (1999)

In order to deal with grievances of past historical injustices over land as expressed by people in various forums especially at the Coast and in the Rift Valley Provinces.  It is proposed that the Constitution be amended to provide that:

Legislation be passed for review of ancestral/historical land claims and disputes including those dating back to 1895 with a view to reaching a just and peaceful resolution of the same, taking into account the nature of the unresolved claim or dispute and the current needs and interests of the nation.

The ancestral claims and disputes shall be investigated by an Historical Land Claims Tribunal to be established by legislation and which shall sit in public and comply with the fair hearing requirements of the constitution and the common law.

That legislation must be passed and all such claims and disputes investigated and resolved within (2) years from the date of commencement of the constitutional amendment.

The current Draft Constitution proposes a mechanism to review all claims of unjust expropriation of land at the Coast and in Rift Valley, and to establish how best such claims can be justly, peacefully and equitably resolved.

Conclusion

The  Maasai–Anglo Agreements are not valid treaties. This is a legal fiction intended to deprive the Maasai of their rights. The impact of these 'treaties' has affected the Maasai community from generation to generation, resulting in dispossession of natural resources and the displacement of the Maasai from their traditional lands. Consequences include abject poverty, disease and high rates of illiteracy.

Traditional cultural institutions have been dismantled and the Maasai assimilated into other cultures. Individual land tenure has been introduced and has contributed to the erosion of the Maasai way of life. The Maasai traditionally hold their land communally, but the necessary social structures are disappearing. The Maasai are losing their identity.

Indigenous peoples have a right to restitution of land, territories and resources which they traditionally owned or occupied or used and which have been confiscated, occupied, used, damaged without their free and informed consent. Where this is not possible, they have the right to just, prompt and fair compensation. Unless otherwise freely agreed upon by the peoples concerned, compensation shall take the form of lands and territories at least equal in quality, size and legal status (Draft Declaration on the Right of the Indigenous Peoples).

Towards this end, the Maasai need to prove, through documentary, oral and written, and aboriginal titles that the territories concerned had been owned, occupied or used by them. Secondly, that they had not given free and informed consent to their alienation. (See Article 14 and 15 of the International Convention Labour No. 169 (1989) (ILO)).  It is interesting to speculate how the Maasai would act if it should be proved that they were a sovereign state. In the meantime, the Maasai will settle for working towards redress of the historical injustices committed in the East African protectorate.

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Related News:

COLONIAL ORIGIN OF PRESENT ETHNIC TENSIONS IN KENYA

http://www.ccr-kenya.com/Resources/52.html or http://www.madaraka.com/Africa/42.html 

THE 1904 and 1911 ANGLO-MAASAI "AGREEMENTS"

http://www.ccr-kenya.com/Resources/53.html or http://www.madaraka.com/Africa/46.html