The Community Land Action Now (CLAN) which brings together 55 network members of the Ogiek community are asking the Attorney General Justin Muturi, to order the suspension of the ongoing evictions at Sasimwani village in Mau forest.
Additionally, the group is also asking Muturi to use his powers and advise the government so that the rule of law that recognizes the rights of the Ogiek community Mau is adhered to.
“We make this intervention because of the mandate of the Attorney General’s office as per the constitution of Kenya 2010,” a statement signed by the group’s executive chair Isaac Tobiko reads.
According to CLAN, the Mau ecosystem has not been destroyed by the Ogiek community, but by external actors and should not be mistaken for the Ogieks living in the forest.
“It has severally been concluded by investigations including the Mau Task Force 2009 that KFS and its predecessor Forest Department and other unscrupulous officials have been among the biggest destructors of Mau Forest,” the statement reads.
Noting the Ogieks of Mau have continued to suffer persecution by both the colonial and independent governments to date, Tobiko called for the registration of their community lands.
The registration of the community lands should be done through legally recognized means that include the Constitution of Kenya 2010 and the Community Land Act 2016.
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“In addition, the Mau Ogiek has made it repeatedly clear to task forces including in 2019, that they do not seek alienable title. Nor will their settlement areas extend beyond present-day limits,” he added.
The Court’s Reparations judgment in June 2022 additionally ordered that the Government of Kenya:
- To return the ancestral land of the Ogiek within the Complex under collective titles within two years through a delimiting, demarcation, and titling exercise in consultation with the Ogiek.
- Commence a dialogue and consultation process with the Ogiek and any concerned parties about any concessions and/or leases granted over Ogiek lands to reach an agreement on whether or not these operations will continue by way of lease or benefit.
- Sharing agreement and, where no agreement is reached, to return the lands to the Ogiek and compensate concerned third parties.
- Adopt all necessary measures to ensure the full recognition of the Ogiek as an indigenous people of Kenya, including recognition of their language and cultural and religious practices.
The evictions started on Thursday 2nd November, where rangers of the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) and Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) started forcefully evicting Ogiek from their ancestral lands by violently destroying and burning Ogiek homes and schools in Sasimwani, Narok County.
The government’s actions directly violate two landmark judgements issued by the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights; one in May 2017 that recognized the Ogiek community’s ownership over their ancestral land in the Mau Forest Complex, and another in June 2022 that ordered the Kenyan government to return the land to the Ogiek community.
The Court recognized the crucial role the Ogiek play in safeguarding their local ecosystems and its resources, and in conserving biodiversity in their ancestral territories.
It clearly stated that the government’s conservation objectives could not be used to justify evicting the Ogiek from their lands.
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