William H.A. “Billy” Willbond MSM, CD
THE SOD BUSTER AND THE CATTLEMAN
The ancient quest for water rights is the warfare story of man
The Kikuyu irrigate gardens, versus the cattle needs of the Maasai Clan
We often see in the Western movies about the people who herd cattle
Who deny farm irrigation rights and with the sod busters they do battle
I picked up Monday’s paper, and saw a small paragraph on a page
About the killings o’er water and about historical tribal rage
The wells have dried up, grazing is scarce, cattle wither in the sun
The Maasai people move their herds when the water holes are done
On old Maasai Pasture land Kikuyu irrigation ponds now stand
Karen Blitzen brought the tribesmen here to camp on Maasai land
‘Twas a plantation growing coffee on her vast rich African farm
A dead masungu causing friction resulting in terrible tribal harm
The white man came to Africa and he made a lot of cash
And now he’s left the problems which cause the tribes to clash;
The Kikuyu gardens and the Maasai cows, they have a need for water
And that’s what brought the pangas out and caused the tribal slaughter!
©Copyright January 31, 2005 by Billy Willbond
Maasai cattle on the road in Nairobi, East Africa’s largest and most developed city. Photo by Andrew LauppeAuthor’s Note: The Maasai cattle come right into the city when there is a need for water. I have seen them in creek bed gullies in Nairobi during droughts where a trickle of sewage water runs and the thirsty beasts trample gardens whilst mooing for a chance to slurp.
The Kikuyu, who were brought into the by the coffee plantation owners (who had a farm that was featured in the “Out of Africa” movie with Meryl Streep and Robert Redford) now own subsistence gardens where the former coffee plantations stood. The house is now a tourist trap, and the town is called Karen, after Mrs Blitzen.
The irrigation ponds are jealously guarded by the people with subsistence gardens and the water is needed for their corn and beans and banana plants. Maasai Cattle who come into town eat the young corn plants grown in the roadside ditches and watered and weeded by women and children daily the destruction of their gardens by Maasai cattle from far flung pastures causes tribal warfare resulting in the deaths as reported in the small newspaper cutting.
I have seen similar clashes in North Central Kenya on the Tana River where herds of goats and camels trample gardens on their way to slake their thirst at the river side. Nile Crocodiles take a fair number of goats each year.
The sodbusters that own the gardens along the river are not amused when the herds of goats trample and eat their precious gardens. Spears and bows and arrows cause many injuries and deaths each year. Water is the most precious commodity on earth, and has been the cause of more deaths than Christianity or Islam
Machete-Wielding Gang Kills Motorists in Nairobi
Times Colonist: Monday January 24, 2005
NAIROBI — Machete-wielding tribes-men hauled motorists out of their cars and executed them along one of Kenya’s busiest tourist routes after ethnic fighting erupted close to the capital Nairobi.
Senior police officers said at least 14 people were killed and several thousand forced to flee their homes as fighters from the rival Maasai and Kikuyu tribes clashed near the village of Mai Mahiu, 55 kilo-metres from Nairobi. The fighting was ostensibly over access to water.
Outbreaks of violence elsewhere in the country have increased as the hot season progresses, water wells dry up, and grazing land becomes scarcer.
Daily Telegraph