19/06/2014
The same literally applies to Mpeketoni, a division of Lamu County whose current population is edging on close to 50,000. For every 1 Kenyan who is aware of the origins and current status of Mpeketoni, there are 50 others who are not. It is these 50 Kenyans that we want to bring to their attention some startling facts about Mpeketoni Division.
Mpeketoni owed its name to an admixture of Swahili (mpe meaning give one) and English (carton) whence was coined the name: mpe katoni.
As each landless Kikuyu got off the administration lorry at the site designated for their settlement, the officer in charge barked: Mpe katoni (a carton of essentials).
That phrase evolved ultimately to Mpeketoni as we know it today. That was in the late Sixties. By the 1999 census, Mpeketoni’s population had mushroomed to 25,000. Today it is nearer the 50,000 mark – easily the most populous division of Lamu County. But it is not a naturally inhabited division of Lamu. It is, on the contrary, an artificial creation by the Kenyatta despotic regime drunk with ethnic chauvinistic power that can best be described as Extreme Chegemony (Chege, the Kikuyu male name blending easily with the English word hegemony).
This Chegemony was superimposed upon a peaceful, backward and illiterate community known collectively as Walamu comprised of Amus who are indigenous to Lamu town and Bajunis in the sprawling Lamu Archipelago.
Kenyatta’s inglorious act of ethnic transplantation resulted in a cultural shock to the people of Lamu who are 100 percent Muslim and have a totally different cultural way of life compared to the newcomers from Central Kenya.
Thanks to Kenyatta’s tunnel vision Chegemony, Mpeketoni is the only division in the whole of Kenya that has been settled and exclusively inhabited by Kikuyus.
Their numbers would have grown by leaps and bounds had not Allah intervened by recalling Jomo Kenyatta to the Great Skies. The Man from Sacho to his credit ordered a stop to the Kikuyu influx when he took over. PEV created a new wave of influx through IDPs who are continually streaming to Mpeketoni and branching out into other nearby urban centres such as Witu and Mkunumbi.
The son of Kenyatta, Uhuru, far from seeking to make amends for his father’s ignominous ethnic transplantation, has lately sought to settle some IDPs in his dubiously acquired vast land holdings in Taveta. But the valiant Taveta people have been putting up a stiff resistance to Uhuru’s attempt. In Lamu, tension has been building up between the settler community and the true owners of Mpeketoni.
Last week, the National Cohesion & Integration Commission sent a team to probe the issue in Mpeketoni even as Esther Murigu’s Ministry of Special Programmes denied it was settling IDPs in the area. Yet they have been coming in numbers that have justified the recent introduction of daily bus services from Nairobi to Mpeketoni. I am asking my fellow Kenyans who sincerely believe in the principles of justice, fair play and equality to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Walamu People against this settler invasion of their lands which is illegal and immoral.
No Constitution on earth allows wholesale translocation of one community from its region to another community’s area.
That is not National Cohesion. It is territorial aggrandisement, not unlike the annexation of territory by a foreign power. The right to live, reside and work in any part of the country may be enshrined in our Constitution, but its incorporation applies solely to the individual and his family but not his entire tribal community. Today, Mpeketoni is well served by both Government and CDF. It has electricity supply whilst many parts of Lamu have no such service. And it is the most developed area of Lamu county whilst other parts of Lamu county are lagging far behind.
Lamu people have been grievously wronged by the Kenyatta regime. This historical injustice must be addressed now for the sake of genuine peace and stability in the area.
Above all, the new influx of IDPs which is further displacing the people of Lamu must be brought to an immediate end and the new arrivals returned whence they came from. If steps are not taken to deal with this situation, do not be surprised if you come to hear Lamu youth crossing the border into Somalia to train as terrorists and return back to fight for their homeland. What is happening now is recipe for future violence. Be warned Kenyans and start championing the cause of Lamu people for justice.
