Group begins long 400km walk to deliver Uhuru letter

A group of Sengwer community members at the start of their 400km walk to Nairobi on October 6. [Stephen Rutto, Standard]

Members of Sengwer community living in Embobut forest, Elgeyo Marakwet County, began a 400km walk to Nairobi yesterday.

The hunter-gatherer community intends to present a petition to President Uhuru Kenyatta, to stop evictions from the forest they have called home for centuries.

The walk started in Tangul, which is adjacent to the 21,000 hectare Embobut forest. They are expected to congregate at Freedom Corner in Nairobi before presenting their petition at Harambee House.

Yesterday, the group made stopovers in Kapcherop and Kitale in Elgeyo Marakwet and Trans Nzoia counties respectively.

Yator Kitum, one of the organisers of the walk, said they had received overwhelming support from residents and civil society groups in the towns they had passed through.

“The police were also supportive and that encouraged us to continue with our journey knowing our security is guaranteed. So far, the walk has been good and we are hoping to seek audience with the President on human rights issues our community is facing,” said Mr Kitum.

Kitum said the community was hopeful that Uhuru would stop the evictions. He said the community has been sidelined in forest conservation yet it lives in the forest. The community also wants to be recognised as a distinct tribe.

“We want to have talks with the State to see how we can collaborate in forest conservation,” said Kitum.

He said the community, in its petition to the head of state, will call for environmental laws that recognise indigenous groups in conservation of forests.

The group's secretary Elias Kimaiyo said the community has suffered huge losses since independence. He also accused security forces of burning of their houses during evictions.

“Indigenous communities across the world are custodians of forests. This is because they conserve and use forests in a sustainable manner. The forests exist because we exist,” said Mr Kimaiyo.

Conservation by-laws

He said the community has written its forest conservation by-laws that it wants adopted.

“The State is building the capacity of Kenya Forest Service by procuring more guns for wardens. As a community, we have realised that the guns have failed to conserve forests, and that is why we want the State to work closely with indigenous communities,” said Kimaiyo.

“We have faithfully conserved the forest because we understand that there is need for downstream communities to get water,” he said.

The group maintains that the community has been sidelined in jobs at the national and county level.

By 4pm, the group was making its way to Nakuru and is expected to make stopovers in major towns along the Eldoret-Nairobi highway.