Ogiek seek seats in new devolved units

By Kipchumba Kemei

A minority group wants counties to allocate them seats in the devolved governments.

Members of the Ogieks community said on Sunday they feared large communities would dominate them and demanded full implementation of the new Constitution.

Speaking in Narok during a meeting, the group said on Sunday they should be allocated positions in Narok and Nakuru counties.

"We don’t want to be left out like after Independence. The counties should allocate us non-elective seats," said their spokesman Daniel Kobei.

Kobei, the chairman of Ogiek People’s Development Programme in both Nakuru and Narok counties, the community has continued to be sidelined even in appointments to Land Control Boards and in the recruitment of armed personnel.

"We have continued to play peripheral roles in development since independence. We have been left out in key Government appointments," they said.

They disputed the recent census results, which put their figure at 70,000, saying the figure was doctored for political expediency.

"If we were more 70,000 we could have made some impact in the affairs of the country. We are between 20,000 to 30,000 according to our survey," said Kobei.

They said they were going to conduct their census to ascertain their exact number, charging that they do not trust the figures released by Planning Minister Wycliffe Oparanya.

The community asked the Government to build boarding schools in Mau to cater for the growing number of their children.