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Article: Old colonial laws stew new tensions in Kenyan Masai land disputes.
- Article from:
- Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL)
- Article date:
- November 2, 2004
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Chicago Tribune. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Laurie Goering
NANYUKI, Kenya _ For decades, while his cattle have torn scarce nourishment from parched Masai communal grazing lands, Joseph Kuraru has looked through a wire fence at the green pastures of adjoining Lolldaiga Hills Ranch in Kenya.
Nearly 100 years ago, his forefathers ceded the sprawling 45,000-acre ranch _ and much of the high plateau west of Mt. Kenya _ to British settlers. Now Kenya's famed pastoralists say 99-year leases on the land, granted by the British colonial government, are up.
In August, Kuraru and his neighbors cut Lolldaiga's fences and herded thousands of their gaunt cattle onto its rocky, green hills. ...