by Karanja Njoroge

A week to expiry of the eviction deadline for settlers of South Western Mau majority of residents seem not to be in a hurry to leave the forestland.

Mr Michael Chirchir, 36, looks at the sky, then at his two-acre maize farm and then the compound, which has been his home for five years, and has no words to express his confusion.

"The farm is my only source of living. How does the Government expect me to leave before I harvest my crops?" he asks.

This is the dilemma majority of settlers at the Mau Forest face as the November 9 deadline approaches.

The Government wants to reclaim the vital water tower from human encroachment and has ordered the settlers to vacate or face eviction.

Settlers interviewed by The Standard on Sunday said they are still trying to come to terms with the notice by the Kenya Forest Service.

Chirchir settled at the forest three years ago with hopes of improving his life and feeding his family through farming. Now he says, the deadline is causing him nightmares. He says the Government should allow them more time.

"The Government should allow us to harvest our crops then move out (of the forest)," he says.

The farmer says he came into the forest from Kiptagich extension and admits having no title deed for the piece of land.

"We heard people were being allocated land in the forest and decided to come in and try our luck," he explains.

The Mau Forest Secretariat, led by former Rift Valley PC Noor Hassan Noor, says the residents earmarked for eviction in the first phase do not have title deeds and thus do not qualify for compensation. But Chirchir terms it inhuman.

"We expected the Government to consult us before issuing the notice," Chirchir told The Standard on Sunday at his farm near Tinet Settlement Scheme.

Evidently, the crops would not be ready for harvesting within the remaining one week to the deadline.

A few metres from Chirchir’s farm is Jackline Sigei, who lives in a makeshift tent. Holding her two-year-old son, she says if the Government makes good its threat to evict them, she will just camp by the roadside.

She insists she has nowhere to go. Her roughly constructed wooden structure on the border of the forest and the Tinet Settlement Scheme is the only place she calls home.

"I will just take my belongings there," she says pointing to the nearby footpath.

She is among hundreds of people who were lured by politicians into the forestland just before the last General Election.

The mother of three says an aspirant of Kuresoi parliamentary seat moved them from Tenwek in Bomet and allocated them the land.

Just like many others, Sigei says she won’t leave unless she is "pulled out of the farm."

"The Government must look for alternative land to resettle us lest it creates a crisis worse than that of post-election violence IDPs," she adds.

Deep inside the forest her cousin Mary Sigei stays in a hut with her husband and four children.

Mary says they moved into the forest in search of pasture and food during drought.

"I have been here for three years. I did not buy the land. I just decided to live here," she says.

Mary claims the Government notice shocked her because the authorities did not inform them. "Our crops are still green. They should be fair and give us more time," she pleads.

Our survey during a tour of Tinet and Ndoinet reveals the eviction notice has raised anxiety among residents.

Members of the Ogiek community who were issued with title deeds by President Kibaki four years ago say they would resist any move to evict them.

The eviction notice states the targeted land lies adjacent to Saino, Korao, Ndoinet, Tinet, Kiptagich, and Kiptagich Extension Settlement Scheme.

The Mau Secretariat says eviction for families with title deeds will commence in January.