Re: [ccr-kenya] Re: Kenyan Delegation Visit Mr. Calvin Burgess in Oklahoma

Chris Owala,

There are some statements you make to people which you really must be able to stand in the dock and substantiate. Which innocent children are these you are saying that Dominion has murdered. And in which country are you talking about? Kenya today? Who would have hidden it this long and if you have evidence that this has happened, why did you not run to the nearest police station to report and have someone held responsible for these innocent deaths? Bwana, wacha upuzi and uongo!

Secondly, families in the Aduwa area who have not received compensation for their land are families that have been bought by Action Aid to keep the fire burning on a non-issue. The Mali Community had a committee that negotiated with Dominion for over eight months about their land. They agreed on an MOU that promised them many social benefits apart from just the payments for their lands. Most of the people in that area sold only small pieces of land at the reservoir site to Dominion. The land in that area slopes steeply and Dominion required to purchase those pieces that were in danger of flooding during high tide. For that reason, Dominion had to ensure that human beings and animals would not be found there. Most of those who sold the bottom lands simply moved their houses to the upper reaches of their land. Those who had to move out completely were squatters on Trust Land. The Law stipulates that any land 30 meters from a body of water belongs to the Government. Even then, Dominion paid them 45,000 per acre for the land and compensated for their houses and other developments including trees.

Before Dominion arrived on the scene, land was being sold for downwards of 15,000 per acre in that area. Most of the land Dominion bought should not have been paid for at all. The land is held in trust by Bondo County Council and Dominion paid for it so that the people would not be forced to move by the Council without any payment. You come down to the area and do your homework before accusing others of not doing theirs.

As for pay for casual labour, the Government has pegged pay for agricultural labour in the rural areas at 80 shillings per day. Dominion has been paying 150 per day. Tell me whether you would pay your casual employees more than that, Chris or Tegi or whoever else says that we are slave labour on the farm. Would you, personally pay your labour more than what the Government has pegged? Hmmmph!!!!

Whose Agenda are you advocating when you accuse Dominion of growing GMOs? Dominion was accused of growing GMOs because they protested at us growing striga infested maize next to their well tended crop. That is when NGOs took advantage of the matter and begun shouting that Dominion was growing GMO maize. So why didn't the Government kick Dominion out?

Dominion rehabilitated the staff houses at Ratuoro Health Centre for the nurses stationed there, and installed running water. Dominion built a laboratory for the centre and is installing electricity in the centre. Dominion provides us with ambulance services as a community and also occasionally provides drugs and medical equipment. Who is the beneficiary? Is it Dominion or ourselves? Why would they want to privatize a public health centre? Their employees are treated there free of charge. The company pays the bills.

Some of you people busy writing here have been purchased to chase away development in Luo land by Action Aid. One thing we are beginning to understand about Action Aid and other NGOs of their ilk. The developed world has in their annual budgets, at least 5% set aside for poverty alleviation in the poor third world countries. Organizations like Action Aid are well known to be "fighting poverty?" in one way or another. Therefore, since these donor countries do not know what to do with the huge reserves set aside for aid, they channel them through NGOs like Action Aid ostensibly to fight poverty.

Unfortunately, they fight to keep people poor. Their main reason is that all the donor cash they earn every year in millions of dollars goes to purchase expensive fuel guzzling motor vehicles, they live in up-market areas and take their children to expensive schools. Their offices are air conditioned and they use the latest in technology. They take their holidays at the coast in the best hotels and travel first class.

All they need to do to keep up this lifestyle is to identify areas where poverty is a serious concern and keep them that way. They get a few Erasto Odindos and pay them to mobilize their communities with issues that are supposedly worth advocating for. They carry people in cheap matatus to cheap hotels in Kisumu, full board for a three day seminar and pay them peanuts for out of pocket. Then they inflate the expenses and account for "big money" spent on these cheap seminars. The money therefore, continues to flow. The seminars are held mainly to bash organizations whose main fault is to try to alleviate poverty.

Such treatment is out of the ordinary for our people and the four to five hundred they are given is such a windfall that they are ready to demonstrate and talk lies against a company like Dominion in order to mollify their paymasters. They are the fools and they do not know it. Meanwhile, employees of Action Aid laugh all the way to the bank. I challenge Action Aid to refute this and give us their tally in development!!!!

The biggest problem that Action Aid has with Dominion is that the company is out to spend money to empower the community economically. This is a threat to their annual income. So they must fight Dominion with everything they have. On the ground, in the media, in the internet, abroad, etc. Thank God for Calvin Burgess. He seems not about to give up. Instead he is investing more and more in heavy equipment to develop the swamp. In the last Local Stakeholders' Forum that the company holds every month with representatives of the community (I represent women in that forum), we were told that the company has now planted 600 acres of rice and is increasing this by 80 acres every week.

How many hoes and jembes can do that, Tegi, Chris? Wanyee? And for how long while we wait for your alternatives which are non-existent?

Wanjiku