Ndorobo forest evictees want compensation

By Titus Too

Nandi, Kenya: Several families from the Ogiek and Ndorobo communities evicted from a government forest 10 years ago want the government to consider them in the ongoing resettlement programme.

The families claim to have been sidelined in the ongoing resettlement in which some landless families have each been compensated with Sh400,000 by the government.

Representatives of the over 1,560 households currently camping at a road reserve adjacent to the forest said they have been ignored for long by successive governments since their eviction in 2005.

They have appealed to the Jubilee government to intervene and compensate them just like other displaced persons.

“Our parents lived in the forest and protected it before we were evicted. We were rendered landless and are now living in poor conditions at Cherobon road reserve,” said Paul Kipkoech, chairman of the Ogiek and Cerengonik communities.

Kipkoech added: “Our families drawn from Cherobon, Laini Moja and Sokomo camps are living in squalid conditions. We are outright evictees just like those who have been compensated by the government.”

Abraham Kemei, the secretary of the group wondered about the criteria used to identify beneficiaries.