Mau settlers issue new demands ahead of eviction

By Kipchumba Kemei

Mau Forest settlers now want the Government to compensate them for the property they lost in the 2005 eviction bid.

They also want the Government to resettle them elsewhere or pay them Sh200,000 for each acre of land they own in the water tower before the eviction set for next month.

Through their spokespersons Kipteigok Chumo and a former Mau Task Force committee member Christopher Bore, they said during the 2005 eviction they lost property worth millions of shillings. They claim the Government should compensate them for the loss because they were not served with notice before the eviction.

Property was destroyed in the exercise, carried out by security forces.

Kenya Forest Service is expected to issue a new notice to the settlers anytime this week.

A secretariat headed by former Rift Valley PC Hassan Noor Hassan has hinted the eviction would start in Likia forest then to South West Mau once the notice expires.

Meanwhile, Narok County Council has said it has set aside money to rehabilitate the Maasai Mau forest, which is under its jurisdiction, after all settlements are cleared.

Narok South MP Nkoidila Lankas yesterday said the settlers should identify to the Government the individuals who sold them the forestland for appropriate action.