Minister of State William Ole Ntimama this week broke ranks with the government and threw his weight behind the Masai's campaign to reclaim ancestral land. "The Masai land was annexed under a state of war by the colonial government," the minister said. Calling for dialogue among the government, white farmers and the Masai to begin as soon as possible, he also appealed to the ranchers to "allow Masai to graze in some of the land. People are moving in desperation, there is no water or grass outside the electric fences," he said.