Why Sengwer community is seeking to be included in protection of Embobut Forest

Sengwer community members protesting along Moi Avenue, Nairobi, October 7, 2019. [David Njaaga, Standard]

Nine years ago, hundreds of squatters, who had settled in Embobut forest located in Elgeyo Marakwet and parts of West Pokot counties were evicted, to pave way for conservation

But the eviction marked the beginning constant fights between the Government and the Sengwer, an indigenous community that has lived in the forest for more than a century. The indigenous community has sustained a fight for its place in conservation, claiming it had been sidelined in conservation of a forest, which has been its home since pre-colonial period.