One killed in Kenya in protests over land

NANYUK – A 70-year-old Masai man was shot dead and five others were injured during a protest by Masai herdsmen demanding the return of land given to British settlers 100 years ago, Kenyan police said yesterday.

The shooting took place on Saturday during a demonstration outside the Ole-Naishu ranch owned by hotelier Jeremy Block, 40 km north of Nanyuki town in central Kenya. Details of the incident were not immediately clear, but residents said it appeared paramilitary police had opened fire.”We are headed to the scene to conduct investigations and establish in what circumstances the shooting took place,” Laikipia police chief David Musau said.Last week the Masai vowed to intensify protests calling for the return of land given to the British settlers under a 1904 treaty which expired last weekend.Kenya’s government rejected their appeals.Two of the injured men, aged 53 and 60, were receiving treatment at Nanyuki district hospital.Three others with gunshot wounds were taken to a clinic north of the town.It was not clear whether they were injured in the same incident.Block said he had no information anyone had been killed.”The information I have is that two people were injured and that no one was killed,” he told Reuters.”They (the Masai protesters) have invaded all the ranches around here, they have destroyed an awful lot of property and it is time for law and order to take control,” he said.Police said 71 other people, all believed to be Masai land protesters, had been arrested.The Masai say the 1904 accord left them destitute because fertile land, mainly in Kenya’s Rift Valley Province, was given to settlers while they received arid, drought-prone areas.- Nampa-ReutersDetails of the incident were not immediately clear, but residents said it appeared paramilitary police had opened fire.”We are headed to the scene to conduct investigations and establish in what circumstances the shooting took place,” Laikipia police chief David Musau said.Last week the Masai vowed to intensify protests calling for the return of land given to the British settlers under a 1904 treaty which expired last weekend.Kenya’s government rejected their appeals.Two of the injured men, aged 53 and 60, were receiving treatment at Nanyuki district hospital.Three others with gunshot wounds were taken to a clinic north of the town.It was not clear whether they were injured in the same incident.Block said he had no information anyone had been killed.”The information I have is that two people were injured and that no one was killed,” he told Reuters.”They (the Masai protesters) have invaded all the ranches around here, they have destroyed an awful lot of property and it is time for law and order to take control,” he said.Police said 71 other people, all believed to be Masai land protesters, had been arrested.The Masai say the 1904 accord left them destitute because fertile land, mainly in Kenya’s Rift Valley Province, was given to settlers while they received arid, drought-prone areas.- Nampa-Reuters