Mau evictees vow to reject Sh400,000 resettlement offer

By Karanja Njoroge
NAKURU, KENYA: The Mau Forest evictees resettlement exercise suffered a set back after some of the evictees vowed to reject the Sh400,00 offered by the Government.

The evictees from the Ogiek community said they would not leave the camps saying the amount was not commensurate with the value of their land in the forest.
The Government has announced plans  to have all the IDP camps across the country closed by the end of the week.

One of the evictees David Kipyegon Kirui  said he had been allocated  five hectares of land at Ndoinet forest  in 1996 by the government and issued with an allotment letter.

But Kirui said the Sh400,000 being offered by the government is only worth one hectares of land in Kuresoi.

“Some of us have documents showing we  were legally issued with the land and  the  amount the government is offering should be commensurate to the value of  the land we left behind,” Kirui  who was armed with an allotment letter for plot number 05468 issued in 1996 said.

However ,the Mau Forest Task Force report indicated that the 4,565 hectares of Ndoinet forest in South Western Mau  were opened for human settlement before being degazzetted.

The forest evictees protested that they had been ordered by  government officials to leave the camps by  Friday even before their issues have been addressed.

"I  have refused to take the money as I believe it is not  right for me to exchange my five hectares  for Sh 400,000 only," said Joseph Sigilai Some who was also in possession of an allotment letter for five heactres of land.

The fresh row has emerged barely two weeks after President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto launched  the final leg of the IDPs resettlement program in Nakuru county.

The President speaking while issuing cheques to some of the Mau Forest families at Kiplamaiywa in Kuresoi  said  the Government has  set Sh832 million  to resettle over 2,000 Mau forest households.

Uhuru said each family  would receive Sh400,000 to enable them settle down and engage in  income generating activities to improve their livelihoods.   

But speaking in Nakuru on Tuesday,  the forest evictees said  they had filed  a case challenging their eviction which has  dragged on for years before a Nakuru Court.

"We are now being ordered to leave the camps  even before the matter has been determined which is not fair," said Kirui.
Kirui said a report by the Ndungu Land Commission  had  in 2005 estimated the value of land  in Kuresoi where their farms are situated at Sh200,000.

“We  have been living in camps since 2009 and the government had promised to look into our grievances but  in vain," he added.

Most of the 851 families at the Ndoinet Settlement Scheme were issued with the allotment letters  through the District Commissioner  office Nakuru.

Samson Kiplagat said  they were disappointed by the government decision to lump all Mau evictees  together.

"There  are  different categories of forest evictees and  the cases should be handled differently as some of us had been issued with the necessary documents for our land," said Kiplagat.