New plot to deny Mau settlers compensation

By Kipchumba Kemei

The Government is seeking title deeds for 146,800 hectares of land in the Mau Forest Complex.

The latest move, which is being fast tracked, is seen as a fresh attempt to kick settlers out of the forest without compensating them.

A source at the Mau Forest Secretariat said title deeds for Eburu Forest, which is the catchment area for Lake Naivasha, have been processed.

He said they expect the exercise to be over in May then begin evicting settlers. "Once the title deeds are out, all those who will have encroached will have to move out," the source said on condition of anonymity.

Rangers trained

He said he did not want to be named because it is only the committee chairman Hassan Noor Hassan is authorised to speak on the behalf of the taskforce.

Already, training for Narok County Council rangers on the eviction exercise, has been completed at the Kenya Forest Training College in Londiani.

The rangers will begin by evicting the settlers on the Maasai Mau part of the forest complex that falls under the county council. But the settlers said they would resist any attempts to evict them without compensation.

"We should be compensated or allocated land elsewhere before the process of title deed acquisition begins. We fear if the Government goes ahead with the plans, we will lose out," said their spokesperson William Cheruiyot.

The Ministry of Lands commissioned the surveying and demarcation of boundaries of the 21 blocks forming the Mau Forest Complex.