Another Govt Gimmick To Hoodwink Nubian to Yes

Days after the government allegedly agreed to transfer a 300 –acre plot to Nubians living in Kibera controversy has already started over whether the beneficiaries will gain.
A number of the community members feel they will be shortchanged in the deal with the officials of Kibera Land Committee out to exploit them.
The 3000- acre land is located in Makina, Mashimoni, Lindi and Kambimuru all in Langata constituency.
However, others are reading politics in the move since the area MP Prime Minister Raila Odinga does not enjoy full support of the populous Nubian Community. By allocating the land, he wants to endear himself to the tribe.
Those opposed to the move say the community could have been awarded over 4,000 acres they have been demanding.
The deal was allegedly brokered by Kibera Lands Committee with Heidar Abeyd playing a major role.
However, Abeyd is being accused by a rival group, Kenya Nubian Council of Elders of selling the community for political and economic gains. Lands Minister James Orengo, PM’s ally agreed the transfer process.
Those in the know however say that the matter is just a political gimmick by the government to lure the Nubian vote in the referendum. Every time there are elections, the Nubian Land question is revived and is forgotten before the ink fades from the finger.
The Nubian community is divided on the educated ones opposing it saying that it does not tackle the community’s nightmarish land problem while others back it because of Kadhi courts.

Source- Weekly Citizen- July 26-August 1, 2010. Page 12. Vol 13. No.30.
Title- Another Govt Gimmick To Hoodwink Nubian to Yes.

"Kenya's Nubians: Then & Now" Opens in Nairobi

Location: Nairobi, Kenya
Event Date: July 17, 2010 - August 14, 2010

"Kenya’s Nubians: Then & Now" is a project that documents and exposes the history and struggles of the Nubian community who have lived in the Kibera area of Nairobi, Kenya, for the last 100 years.

Greg Constantine, recipient of a 2009 Open Society Institute Distribution Grant, has worked with the Nubian community in Kibera to collect rare, historical photographs of the community dating back as far as 1912. A selection of the photographs will be reprinted and combined with Constantine’s own work in an exhibition that not only chronicles the history of the Nubian community in Nairobi, but also documents the consequences statelessness and the denial of citizenship have had on them in their struggle to gain recognition.

In partnership with UNHCR, Constantine will launch the project in mid-July with a large exhibition in downtown Nairobi followed by an outdoor exhibition/installation in Kibera in mid-August.

"Kenya’s Nubians: Then & Now" will be exhibited at the Go Down Arts Centre from July 17 to August 14, 2010. The outdoor exhibition will be shown at the Kibra Academy in Kibera on August 13, 14, and 15.

The Nubians in Kenya website will be launched at the exhibition on July 17.

The exhibition will travel to London later this year.
Location

Go Down Arts Centre
Dunga Road, Industrial Area
Nairobi, Kenya

http://www.nubiansinkenya.com/