Return our land now, minority tribe pleads

Baringo, Kenya: Forty years ago, members of the Endorois community were displaced from their ancestral land in Baringo County to pave way for the Lake Bogoria National Game Reserve. For decades, the community wandered from one land to another until 2010 when an international court ordered the Government to compensate them.

The African Court on Human and People’s Rights siting in Gambia ruled that by evicting the Endorois from their ancestral land and excluding them from benefits of development around Lake Bogoria, the Government violated their rights to religion, property, wealth and natural resources according to the African Charter and People’s Rights.

But that is as far as the community’s hope reached. Four years after they celebrated the ruling with pomp and colour, the Government is yet to resettle them. Many of the original evictees have since died, as their children and grandchildren live in abject poverty.

Abject poverty

Endorois Welfare Council Chairman Samuel Marigat told The Standard on Sunday last week that the Government’s refusal to implement the ruling has subjected them to untold suffering. He said there were 173 families in Lake Bogoria in 1973 when the Endorois were evicted, but the population has grown tremendously. The Endorois community now numbers 60,000 people occupying 16 locations in Baringo South, Mogotio and parts of Nakuru and Laikipia counties.

“We have been suffering since we were evicted. We were dejected when the local courts turned down our case when we filed it in 2003 bet we celebrated, albeit briefly, in 2009 when the African Court made the landmark ruling,” he said.

Marigat said the Government is yet to initiate their resettlement four years later. “Most of our grandfathers have since died. Their descendants have increased in number. We need the Government to honour the AU ruling and give justice to the Endorois who are now landless,” he said.

Former Lands Minister James Orengo attended a function organised by the community to celebrate their win, where he promised to implement the ruling once he got the sealed copy. “I have sat with the leadership of the community and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights. The moment they give me the authenticated copy, I will execute that order. I will take steps to execute that order,” Orengo told Parliament on January 18, 2010.

Hijacked settlement

But by the time Orengo left office nearly three years later, the Government was still dragging its feet on resettling the community, long after the ruling had been handed to it. Recently, more than 300 members of the community sought audience with Baringo Governor Benjamin Cheboi over their plight.

Through a memorandum read to the Governor by Marigat and Wilson Kipkazi, the Council’s Director, the community demanded the de-gazettement of the disputed Mochongoi Settlement Scheme, which they said was hijacked from the community.

They said they were locked out of the settlement scheme even though it was intended for them. The community demanded that the Mochongoi Settlement Scheme be audited by a joint committee of the Baringo County Government and Kenya Lands Alliance (KLA), and that the registers for the scheme be surrendered to Marigat District Lands Office immediately.

The Endorois further demanded that a list of all genuine squatters in Mochongoi be drawn and public land be protected through the formation of specific committees.

They also complained of insecurity, displacement and livestock theft by suspected Pokot cattle rustlers in areas such as Arabal and Chebinyiny locations and asked Cheboi to liaise with the National Government to ensure that their stolen livestock are returned or they are compensated.

County resources

“Several families in Loboi area have been displaced by floods, yet the government has ignored us. We also want to get the Sh6 million the President gave to Lake Baringo flood victims,” said Veronica Chepkuto, a community member.

 

In their memorandum, the community complained that their settlement areas at Kaptombes, Tempererwa and Chiyne had been encroached by the Illchamus.

They also demanded a share of the resources from the Lake Bogoria, ruby mining, geothermal prospects and exploitation, which they claim are in their areas.

Ambrose Kibet, who spoke on behalf of Endorois youth, said despite Lake Bogoria generating over Sh60 million monthly, the community’s youth are wallowing in joblessness. “We are disadvantaged as we do not have jobs despite Lake Bogoria, which is our lake, generating millions,” said Kibet.

Some of the residents evicted during the reclamation of the lake said they received Sh3,000 in compensation.

Cheboi promised to address their issues, saying they had been incorporated in the County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP).

“I spoke to President Uhuru Kenyatta on the Mochongoi issue and he promised to address it through the Lands ministry. We will work with other elected leaders in the county to solve the issue amicably,” the governor said.