Theatre in the Mill has commissioned Kenyan artist John Namai as part of our Seed Commission Programme. He will be sending updates of the work he’s undertaken monthly.
Problem statement (pain point)
Locals and indigenous people throughout the time of colonization till today are either pushed from their lands or have being forced\ cheated to sign unfair deals that would leave them without lands or in mid of barren lands.
Research activities
1- Filed trips
It was to Samburu county North of Kenya where it’s Samburu and Masaai lands, 312 km from Nairobi, done 4th till the 9th of August. Where the interviews were conducted while going in a Camel Caravan that extends from Sesia to Nkutuk, which is a 51 km walking distance, the purpose of the Caravan was to raise awareness on the Future of the Ewaso Ngiro river (black waters) and the communities that depend on it. The stories where collected from farmers, activists, and young pastoralists. Some of the stories I’ve gathered indicated insights on the impact of flower companies on the environment and local communities, including concerns about water diversion and pollution. Six interviews total 152 minutes. I’m currently transcribing the collected stories.
Figure 1, 2, 3 & 4, the Caravan Interviews
2- Personal interviews with locals visiting Nairobi
Josephine is a gender studies student at Nairobi University working in an NGO that works with youth countering FGM. She is a community defender who fights against FGM in her home community. We had a conversation about historical injustices in Laikipia, which is a is a diverse county in Kenya’s Rift Valley region, lies 263.4 km away from Nairobi, known for its varied landscapes, including high plains and savannah, and important for tourism due to its unique wildlife like Grevy’s zebras and black rhinos has a population of over 500,000 people, with a mix of ethnic communities including Kikuyu, Turkana, Maasai, and Samburu. She reflected on the conflict between locals , settlers and government, where the conflict happens in different levels, firstly there’s a feud between the herders and the farmers on grazing lands, same issue happening between the herders and other herders from outside the county, secondly there is a conflict with the government over the Mukogodo Forest, which is a large, arid dryland forest in Laikipia County, Kenya, covering over 30,000 hectares and surrounded by four Maasai community lands, the government wants to control and protect by putting rangers, which it’s something the locals are refusing therefore the vast lands remain in tension. Thirdly there is a seasonal problem, were in drought time the local herders enter the green Ranches that belongs to the settlers and that brings more conflicts in the region.
Figure 2: Josephine’s interview in Nairobi.
3- Archive research visits
Searching documents that documents land conflicts and other issues with settlers and the government that goes back to 1900’s to date. The stories extend in five regions (Lamu, Kilifi, Meru, Kiambu and Rift Valley) and depict the struggle of (Swahili, Masaai, Kikuyu and Ojiek). However the areas of the interests from most stories vary significantly, to summarize the reflected:
1. Forced migration, for example there are documents depicting 50 Kikuyu families who were forced to leave their home lands in order to build the railways and settled them in Chuka lands in Meru, then the two communities’ dispute over trees cutting, type of crops to plant and the effect of the new community economy on beehives business.
2. Colonial polices, for example there’s a story about a family males members were forced to work in a plantation to repay their father’s debt to an Arab settler.
3. Social resistance, where there’s a story about children playing with a village imam by sending a letter pretending it to be airmail inviting him to the queen’s inauguration party and despite all efforts they couldn’t convince him later it wasn’t true.
4. Religious influences, for example a man claims he spoke directly to god, delivering the message that the locals should stop to wearing the white people clothes so it will make it harder for them to settle and they would leave eventually.
5. Individuals’ resistance, where a man was arrested and taken to mental illnesses hospital because he organized a meeting discussing why paying taxes to Arabs while they are already paying taxes to the English king.
Figure 6 One of our visits to the Archives in Nairobi “Town” was coincided with the visit of the high commissioner to the facility where the migration of important documents from England to Kenya was celebrated by staff and visitors.
4- Documentaries analysis (unreleased data)
A friend working in the same land issues provided me with documentaries were two neglected communities are dealing with land injustices, the Kamirithu and the Masaai. Where the issue of Magadi carbon credit is used to manipulate the local deals and damaging the income of the local farmers. From there it’s clear that colonial polices establishing native resources introduction of European land tenure systems directly undermined the traditional forms of land ownership and authority. This created new class of squatters and landless people leading to social stratification and conflict among the African communities themselves. My friend’s film project was stopped by the government.
5- Researches of other people
A film project of a friend succeeded to collect data regarding the Ogiek people, which is a case that is usually followed by local news, and the Ogiek are an Indigenous hunter-gatherer community, they live around the Mau Forest Complex and Mount Elgon regions, known for their deep connection to and stewardship of the forests. These people are the original custodians of the Mau land and during time they have being forced out by the government were the elections time brings short time peace then the conflict resume after the dust settles down.
Resources of injustices
When it comes to land injustices in Kenya, so far we can refer the sources of these conflicts and lasting issues to:
1- Government.
2- Settlers.
3- Investors.
4- Environmental conversation entities (Governmental and non-governmental).
5- Mining companies (Governmental and non-governmental).
6- Flower business.
Challenges:
There are delays in terms of planning field research on the ground, because contacts in different areas recommend to time our interviews when there’s an event happening like community events or festival times for example celebrating the September Equinox ,or when we they come to Nairobi for a visit.
The research is taking longer than the expected time, specially that most documents are hand written in unclear manner, the archivist claim some documents were borrowed and not returned yet, some are misfiled, and some asking for money to put an effort to extract files.
Planned activities:
• Make last filed visits this month to conduct interviews and collect data, to:
1- Baringo
2- Kajiado
3- Tharaka nithi.
4- Mombasa
• Finish transcribing the data collected from past interviews and analyze them.
I’ve completed a field visit to Samburu County in the north of Kenya and collected stories from farmers, activists, and youth. I’ve gathered insights on the impact of flower companies on the environment and local communities, including concerns about water diversion and pollution. I’m currently transcribing the collected stories and planning further visits to Laikipia. The goal is to understand the local context and amplify community voices