Ogiek attacked at Mt. Elgon

Index of this compilation

The Struggle of the Chepkitale Ogiek

Clergy appeal over Ndorobo eviction

Ogiek attacked at Mt. Elgon - 04.03.2004

Report from the Ground - 09.03.2004

REQUEST by the Mt. Elgon Ogiek - 17.03.2004

Comment on a defamatory letter written by the members of the POK community through a Geoffry Kipsisey - 26.03.2004

Answer to a letter by Dominic Walubengo - 29.03.2004

Dirty Politics ? - 19.04.2004

Chepyuk settlement - The cause of mayhem at Mt. Elgon between the Ogiek of  Chepkitale and the Pok community - 21.04.2004

UPDATE OF THE CHEPKITALE OGIEK DILEMMA - 22.04.2004

The number of the houses burnt in Chepyuk settlement area... - 24.04.2004

MP and councillor clash on funds - 24.05.2004

CHEPKITALE OGIEK LAND QUESTION - 23.08.2004

CHEPKITALE OGIEK LAND QUESTION

DATE: 23^RD AUGUST 2004

Chepkitale Ogiek is a minority group, otherwise known as Ndorobo, whose historical background has not been documented by many historians and it is because of this that their rights have not been addressed appropriately. 

Who are the Ogiek of Chepkitale? These are the hunter/ gatherer community turned pastoralists at the turn of the 18^th Century and their territory stretched from river Rokook to the West and river Suam to the East and to the South is the present Mt. Elgon Forest as well as adjacent locations of the lower Mt. Elgon and Trans-Nzoia Districts e.g. Kaboywa Location, Kiboroa Location, Kinyoro Location, Cholim, Kaibei and Chepchoina. 

Upon the coming of the Europeans, this community was forced to move out of their land for the purpose of creating room for the white settlers. The sections of the land affected included the following: Chepchiona ADC, Cholim, Zea, Sabwani, Teldet forest belts and other adjacent farms. 

In 1900 conflict arose between the colonial government and the Ogiik community over land ownership and utilization of resources e.g. salt licks, pasture and bee keeping since there was restriction of human activity as stated above in the woodland. In addition to this the colonial government also instructed the community to reduce the number of herds under the infamous “Blue Number” system. This again deepened the conflict since the Ogiik could not stomach it. 

Because of the crisis in 1912, the colonial government decided to address the issue nationally whereby Africans Reserves were formed. In this respect the Ogiek were given Chepkitale Native Reserve which covers an area approximately 100,000 hectares, mostly the Mooreland areas stretching from rivers Rokook in the West to river Suam in the East. When this reserve was created, not all Ogiek moved to the Moorland since others were inclined to hunting and gathering and therefore remained in the forest area and the trend remains to the present. 

In 1932, Chepkitale Native Reserve was Gazetted officially as an African Reserve with its Headquarters at Labot. Point to note is that the Ogiik (Ndorobo’s) led their own administrative leaders led by Mzee Sangulu followed by Arap Litat, Arap Matei, Ndiwa Sangulu, Andrea Pyator, Tenderesi Temoi among others. 


SOCIAL SETUP

The community organized itself in units called Pororiet (territories) with each of these comprising a number of clans. The following Pororosiek existed from East to West – Kabeywa domain stretched from River Suam to Kasawai River, Keberer from River Kasawai to Sosio River and Chebokos domain from River Sosio to River Rokok (Rwakaka). The community has 32 clans/ sibs. It should be noted that the community had formal schools for each Pororiet i.e. Kipkama, Labot and Kasawai respectively which were under funded and yet people were paying taxes. This therefore marginalized the community further. 


ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 

It should be noted that even before the coming of the colonialists, Ogiik community had an organized way of conserving the environment in order to meet their daily needs. For instance, burning of forest and grassland was not allowed since it could interfere with pasture, bees, bamboos whose husks were used for bee hive making and baskets of which was food. The younger bamboos were and are used as food and the mature ones were used for making traditional baskets for holding food (utensils). 

Each clan has a totem and it is a taboo to kill hence helping in conserving wildlife. Many trees are used as medicinal herbs and hence assisting in environmental conservation. 


ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES 

As stated in the introduction, the community was basically a hunter-gatherer community who later changed to pastoralism. However, at the present they are practicing both. Their main source of food was milk, honey, blood and meat. In the 1940s they subsidized their food with cereals, which had been brought by the Europeans. 


PRESENT SITUATION 

In the 1950s the colonial government felt that the Ogiik community should get a place for cultivation for subsistence to supplement their traditional pastoralist activities. This was not to be until after independence where a new arrangement was made with this people being moved to the present Chepyuk Settlement Scheme. 

In 1971 the actual settlement programme began led by the Ogiik Assistant Chief by name Tenderesi Temoi assisted by a council of elders. The Ogiik community that was to benefit comprised of 600 families. However, the then member of parliament, the Late Daniel Moss and his cronies who later grabbed three-quarters of the land doctored this figure. 

The initial government plan was to settle the Ogiik community based on the size of the family without interfering with their lifestyle at Chepkitale Native Reserve – their ancestral land. 

Before the whole exercise had been completed to benefit the Ogiik, the larger Saboat community with the support of their leaders and provincial administration had grabbed the land. It should be noted that the only leader we had in this period was the assistant Chief who had been cut to size. It is at this point, therefore the Ogiik started agitating for their land rights. During this period of the struggle that the Ogiik leaders who demanded for their rights were branded inciters, and many of them were arrested, remanded and tortured without being tried in a court of law. All these were intended to silence them from asking for their land rights. 

Though this happened, the Ogiik leaders continued with their struggle leading to the nullification of the exercise in 1989. The larger Saboat community to frustrate them further used crude methods. They organized thuggery guised as cattle rustling at Chepkitale, Chepyuk and Kiboroa where their economic livelihood was destroyed. For instance, on 24^th November 1966, where organized crime was instituted against the Ogiik in Toboo Manyatta in Chepkitale Nature Reserve where four people were killed in horror manner i.e. the Late Mr. Benson Chelasia, Mr. Wycliffe Kwalia, Mr. Chemosin Mnanda and Mr. Mtumwa Ismael, several injured and 800 cattle stolen. 

Despite the nullification, the new exercise had not been fair either since land grabbing is at its peak through corrupt deals as follows: First the majority of the beneficiaries are non-Ogiik who bribe the provincial administration, lands officers and surveyors. Secondly, there is also double allocation. Thirdly, influential people use their wealth and offices to acquire many plots leaving the poor Ogiik with none. 

The people who attempt to question the malpractices are branded inciters and rumourmongers. In their further attempt to marginalize the Ogiik community, the Mt Elgon County Council gazetted Chepkitale Native Reserve as a national game reserve under gazette notice of 6^th June 2000 against the wishes of the Ogiik community. 

REQUEST

We as a community are calling for the support of well wishers from within and internationally to support us in achieving our objectives as follows: 

a) A justified and fair allocation of land in Chepyuk. 

b) The Ogiik community who have been living in Kiboroa Forest to be given state land in Trans-Nzoia District. 

c) Chepkitale Native Reserve be accorded all the political, infrastructural, administrative and social facilities. 

For the above to be achieved, we request for legal services and capacity building of the people concerning their rights.

BY MARTIN SIMOTWO 

SECRETARY 

CHEPKITALE INDEGENOUS PEOPLES DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (CIPDP)

24.05.2004

MP and councillor clash on funds

Serut angered by accusation  of usurping role of regional committee

By Bernard Kwalia .

DAILY NATION 24. May 2004

An MP and a top Council official yesterday clashed over the disbursement of a Sh 6 million constituency  development fund.

Mr. John Serut of Mt. Elgon and the area Council Vice – Chairman , Mr. James Shabatai , were attending the funeral of Mr. Patrict Kiplimo Tendet a constable attached to the Kimilii Police Station , at Sambocho Village of Kapsokwony Division.

The Councillor was speaking when the MP walked to the dais and grabbed the microphone from him.

Mr. Shabatai had accused the MP of personalising the funds.

The Kamilili  Police station  Chief, Mr. Alfred Kimemu who was the master of ceremony, ordered his men to restore order as the situation threatened  to get out of hand.

After calm was restored, the police order a Salvation Army preacher to shorten his service as tension mounted.

Committee’s role usurped

The civic leader had accused the MP and the District Commissioner , Mr. James Ole Serian, of usurping the Constituency funds committee’s role , and alsoof giving out the money to non priority projects.

He asked the Government to withhold the funds until the residents elected a new team . The two politicians, he added , had hand –picked the bursary and Aids committee sand the District Hospital board without involving the residents.

Mr. Shabatai cited the disbursement of money in which the local people were supposed to be consulted so that they could propose their projects, and which , they claimed , had been allocated to areas where the MP enjoyed greater support. At the same time , he lamented that ,at the Kapsokwony District Hospital , patients were dying in large numbers for lack of basics facilities although former President Moi helped to raise Sh 5. 2 million three years ago for a theatre, a maternity ward and mortuary. But Mr. Serut denied the claims, saying he was empowered to form a community  development committee and give out the money.

He asked the councillor to avoid cheap politics and instead account for the local Authority Transfer Fund from the Government.

Misused  money

He said Sh3 million in local authority funds had been misused .

24.04.2004

The number of the houses burnt in Chepyuk settlement area has been mainly for the Chepkitale Ogiek and anybody disputing that then is an architect of the genocide against the Ogiek Community. 

The houses burnt at the beginning of this year 2004 were as follows:

NB: All the arrested persons belong to the Ogiek community and non from the Pok Community was arrested. This is a serious matter that warrants a lot of attention by the international community.

The Ogiek whose houses were burnt are still staying with their relatives. Others have started reconstructing their small houses. Those who went to Chepkitale ancestral homeland are still there with their relatives. A few children had reported back to school by the end of last school term. Schools need to be put up at Chepkitale Trustland.

Previous burning instances were as follows:

Kipsisey the enemy of Chepkitale people and the truth:

Kipsisey and his Pok group denial of the existence of the Chepkitale Ogiek is an hypocrital stance of the Pok community. They should explain the source of the difference between the Chepkitale people and the Pok community, if they are honest and cherish the truth.

Kipsisey and his group have decided to champion deceit and slander against the Chepkitale Ogiek leaders and members of their community. They have decided to use all the machinery and means available to cove-up the existance of the Chepkitale Ogiek so that when they will be carrying out genocide against the Chepkitale people, no one will know and raise protest or complain about it. In other words the denial of the existence is just nothing but the start of genocide against innocent people of Chepkitale.

They should be told to stop intimidating the Chepkitale Ogiek leaders through writing letters, passing
anonymous telephone calls and misleading the International Community. Denying the existence of Chepkitale Indigenous People (Ogiek) in Mt. Elgon is genocide of the highest degree.

I wish to request the members of the International Community that whatever it is written by Geoffrey
Kipsisey and his Pok group is nothing but the words and strategies of the enemies of the Chepkitale Ogiek. The Chepkitale people have nothing to negotiate with their enemies. Treat Kipsisey as an enemy of the Chepkitale Ogiek. When he writes to you or other members of the International Community know that the enemy has written and acknowledge their views and strategies so that we
may have them in future in the International Court of Justice when the Pok leaders are being tried for injustices against humanity.

Finally Kipsisey is a gifted liar and slanderous person who can be deduced as such from his expression of invoking God’s name and the devil to scare other readers. He is a person who misquotes the Bible to suit his own ends. I therefore request the members of the International Community who sponsors the SIL/BTL activities to disassociate themselves from the acts of Kipsisey and his Pok group. If not, we shall consider them to be indirect supporters and funders of the genocide activities against the Chepkitale Ogiek. SIL and BTL should dismiss or send Geoggry Kipsisey out of their organisation otherwise their credibility will be questionable. They should not continue supporting the architects of genocide and crimes against humanity.

Thank you

Dr. J. Changeiywo

22.04.2004

UPDATE OF THE CHEPKITALE OGIEK DILEMMA - 22.04.2004

The situation of the Chepkitale Ogiek has not changed for the better. The local authorities and administration are currently surveying and distributing phase III of Chepyuk settlement area with no consultation with the Chepkitale Ogiek. The land surveying exercise was started through the instruction of the local District Commissioner. Basing on the previous experiences it seems that there is no hope for the Chepkitale Ogiek to be settled on plots in Phase III Chepyuk settlement and this fear confirms what the area M.P. has stated and stood by.

When the President, Hon. Mwai Kibaki visited Mt. Elgon District on Friday, the 16th April 2004, he never talked about land matters in the area and moreso not a single word concerning the prennial conflict between the Chepkitale Ogiek and members of the Pok Community. He talked only on developmental matters such as education, construction of road, good leadership by civil servants among other things. He did not address the issues on land matters and rights of the Ogiek as he did previously when touring Nakuru, Kericho, Bomet and Buret districts. It was quite noticeable that the government was keen on bringing the area M.P. (Hon. Serut) to their side and to abandon the opposition camp. With such scenerio, the issues touching the plight of the Chepkitale Ogiek were irrelevant and did not matter at all, given that the M.P. was given attention by the government and he is known to detest any idea touching the Chepkitale Ogiek.

Currently, the Chepkitale Ogieks are still suffering as before. The people whose houses were burnt have not received any support from the government or any charitable organisation. When the Red Cross of Western Kenya provided little assistance, it was organized and distributed at the Kopsiro D.O’s office and list of the beneficiaries did not reflect the reality. Members of the Pok community became the ones being assisted. A few Chepkitale Ogieks who managed to have gone to the distribution point were refused. Since then no other support has come to the side of Chepkitale People.

The major accusation against the Chepkitale Ogiek by the local administration and local authorities is that they tried to defend themselves against the aggression from the members of the Pok community. They saw this as something unusual.

The opinion leaders of the Chepkitale Ogiek have been earmarked for arrests in case of any further conflict, especially as the land surveying is going on in Phase III of Chepyuk settlement and its eminent distribution. Furthermore, those opinion leaders who have telephone facilities have been threatened through unanimous calls. I have personally received over four such calls since the beginning of March, 2004.

We, the Chepkitale Ogiek still appeal to our friends and members of the international community to pressure the Government of Kenya to be sensitive to the plight and rights of our people. Also we still request for moral and material support.

Dr. Johnson Changeiywo
< jchangeiywo@yahoo.com >

21.04.2004

Chepyuk settlement - The cause of mayhem at Mt. Elgon between the Ogiek of  Chepkitale and the Pok community

Dear all,
 
First I may say that contrary to what Kipsesey said, the Ogiek of Mt. Elgon exist and anyone can visit
them at Chepkitale Native Reserve .
 
1. During the pre colonial and post colonial period, the Ogiek community in Mt. Elgon used to reside in Chepkitale sub location of Bungoma district and Sulet of Tranzoia District. They used to traverse the two districts of Bungoma and Tranzoia along the moorland of Mt. Elgon.
 
2. Soon after independence, the greater part of Tranzoia was taken over by the Kenya government and was converted into the Mt. Elgon National Park without compensating the Ogiek. What remained was the Chepkitale sub location where the Ogiek stayed until recently (year 2000) when the Mt. Elgon County Council without the consent of the Ogiek community gazetted this area as a Game Reserve. That was not taken lightly by the Ogiek community - especially not by the recently educated, who are bearing in mind the corruption ruling in most kenyan councils during the previous government.

3. In 1971 the Kenya Government settled the Ogiek at the current Chepyuk settlement. But even before they were allocated the pieces of land it was grabbed by the the larger Sabaot community with the support of the late Daniel Moss and others. Moss was the M.P. The MP literally grabbed the land and gave it to his relatives, who are still there up to now. It should be pointed out at this juncture that the overall intention of the government was to assist the Ogiek to enjoy the fruits of independence, but that remained elusive up to date.
 

Genesis of problems at Chepyuk settlement scheme.

1. Chepyuk initially was not a settlement scheme. It was a political creation to allow the grabbing of
Ogiek land.

2. In 1971, the Ogiek community - on direction and influence of the late Daniel Moss - was forced to
move to Chepyuk against the wishes of the majority of their people.

3. In 1979, the Ogiek community that remained on their ancestral land were subjected to a lot of insecurity since the security forces were withdrawn from Labot the sub location Hqs. It is during this period that the Ogiek community lost thousands of cattle, sheep, donkeys and sheep and many of their houses were burnt.

4. The Ogiek community resisted this forced move and went back in 1982, when bandits were again sponsored to terrorize the Ogiek. But we remained focused to defend our ancestral land.

5. We had not realized that the intention was to grab both Chepkitale and Chepyuk settlement
scheme. Since that time the community has registered its complains through written memoranda to the highest office in the land, seeking for justice, but until today nothing has been forthcoming. It should be noted that justice delayed is justice denied

6. The young and old Ogiek men, who were haphazardly arrested just recently, stood against the marginalisation of the Ogiek from Mt. Elgon at the hands of the Pok (Sabaot) community. If the provincial administration was keen on corruption activities as highlighted by the Ogiek elders the unfortunate situation could  have been avoided.

The Way Forward

1. The current land allocation must be stopped immediately.

2. All land allotments / distributions previously done at Chepyuk must be considered null and void.

3. Documentation should be done after ordering all people currently living in Chepyuk to go to where
they were in 1970 i.e. the Ogiek to go to Chepkitale, where all land allocation must be revised, since it
stemmed from the tent of land speculators

4. Chepkitale Native Reserve must be reverted to its original status and be provided with all administrative and infrastructure facilities. The original boundaries should be marked

5. Pok leaders must stop immediately to interfere with the appointment of Chiefs and Assistant Chiefs of the Ogiek of Mt. Elgon. It is our right to have our own leaders.

Thanks for reading and sympathizing

Mr. Martin Simotwo

Secretary
Chepkitale indigenous peoples development programme (CIPDP)
e-mail:  msimotwo@yahoo.com 

19.04.2004

Dirty Politics ?

Nobody really understood how it was possible that Mt. Elgon MP John Serut could bluntly send back the detachment of the General Service Unit (GSU) dispatched to stand against the armed attackers and the killers, because the GSU reports directly to the Office of the President and wouldn't take
orders from an MP.

The two pieces below might make it clear how "practical politics" still works in Kenya:

Mt. Elgon MP John Serut                                              (Has shifted allegiance from Kanu to Ford-K)   "Mt. Elgon did not benefit from the Kanuadmistration and I thank President Kibaki for implementing most of its campaign promises. Mt. Elgon is too underdeveloped to remain in Opposition."

It's pay-back time, voters tell President Kibaki
     

Story by NATION Team 19.April 2004
 

     President Kibaki came under increasing pressure yesterday to repay his electoral
     support from Western Province with development projects and by giving local
     people top jobs – including Cabinet posts.

     But in responding to their demands, the President replied that the only way to lift
     people from what he called "the limbo of poverty" was by sheer hard work.

     He did, however, take some cheer to the province: the promise of a new university
     plus the completion of a number of key roads and all stalled development projects
     in the region.

     The clear and uncompromising pay-back pleas began on Friday at the President's
     first stop in Kapsokwony, Mt Elgon.

     Then they were repeated in Teso, Busia, Mumias-Butere, Bungoma, Lugari,
     Vihiga and lastly at Bukhungu stadium in Kakamega; the penultimate rally
     arranged for the President to deliver his message to the people of Western
     Province.

     Mt Elgon, a one-constituency border district which voted overwhelmingly for Kanu
     in the last General Election was given more than locals had even asked for.

     The President ordered a study on the possibility of setting up a tea factory in the
     area, tarmacking the 57 km Kamukuywa-Kaptama-Kopsiro-Namwela road and
     expanding Kapsokwony district hospital.

     Local MP John Serut recently jumped ship from Kanu, on whose ticket he sailed
     into Parliament to Ford-Kenya, a key partner in Narc.

     "I'm happy that local MP John Serut has chosen to work with us; we will do our best
     to solve the problems facing people of this district," the President said.

     In another one-constituency district, Teso, the President did not respond to most of
     the demands by locals presented to him by Amagoro MP Sospeter Ojaamong' who
     is allied to the Liberal Democratic Party wing of Narc.

     He asked that the constituency should be split in to two, properly to serve the
     minority Teso community with a population of about 300,000, inadequate health
     facilities, lack of industry, poor roads and high illiteracy.

     Other requests were for credit through the Agricultural Finance Corporation,
     establishing an Export Processing Zone in Malaba border town, the definition of
     boundaries between Teso and neighbouring Busia, Mt Elgon and Bungoma
     districts and a resumption of passenger trains between Nairobi-Malaba and
     Kampala.

     The President gave an assurance that the Government will help development
     projects in the border district.

     In Busia , Vice-President Moody Awori's district, the President avoided key issues
     raised by leaders including the Budalangi floods, sugar industry and the road.

     The province voters who gave President Kibaki 500, 000 plus votes in the 2002
     General Election, only second to Nairobi, also appealed for the rehabilitation and
     equipment of Kakamega provincial and referral hospital and that land be set aside
     for future industrial expansion in the town.

     In Mumias, President Kibaki refused to be drawn into wrangles involving a local
     outgrowers company management.

     In Bungoma, MP Silvestor Wakoli accused the Government of discrimination in
     employment.

     "The people of Bumula voted for Narc. However they have never benefited from
     government appointments and we want to be told whether we are in Kenya or
     Uganda," Mr Wakoli said.

     The President said the Sh300 million released to help clear the debt which has
     accumulated since 1999 was ready for collection at the firm.

     There, the President announced that a fully-fledged university would soon be
     established in the area with the proposed Kibabii Teachers College as one of its
     branches.

     "We shall have a university that will equal any of the major universities in the
     country and one of its constituent colleges will be at Kibabii," the President said at
     Muliro Stadium, Bungoma.

     Kanduyi MP Wafula Wamunyinyi assured the President: "Local Ford-Kenya
     supporters are truly behind your Government."

     In Lugari, MP Enock Kibungunchy asked for a new constituency to be created
     along the Malava/Lugari border at Matete. However, the President told the
     Electoral Commission of Kenya to move fast and harmonise the electoral and
     administrative boundary in the area.

     At Vihiga the demands were led by assistant Agriculture minister George Khaniri
     and Emuhaya MP Kenneth Marende.

     Mr Khaniri said the Government had so far not given the people of Vihiga, and by
     extension the province, something commensurate to what they gave the President
     in the last General Election.

     "We want government-initiated development projects in the region to be
     proportional to the votes that we gave to your government in the last elections,"
     said Mr Khaniri.

     Mr Marende said his constituents and the province overwhelmingly voted for Narc
     "and we want development to come to our region".

     Mr Marende supported recent attempts to charge public figures implicated in
     corruption. Politicians should not politicise the fight against corruption, he said.

     "Those who have been implicated should appear in court and let the judicial
     process clear them," said Mr Marende.

     Leaders also asked the President to bring together factions warring over the draft
     Constitution to ensure the country gets a new Constitution by June.

     In his reply, President Kibaki said the Government would complete the stalled
     Vihiga District headquarters this year.

     Mr Kibaki thanked voters for overwhelmingly voting for him in the last General
     Election, adding that as a sign of thanks, the Government would complete all
     stalled projects in the district.

     By Benson Amadala, Lucas Barasa, Joseph Lupele, Peter Opondo and Owino
     Opondo
 
     © 2004 NationMediaGroup All Rights Reserved

12.04.2004

Call to have 6,000 illegal arms seized
Story byNATION Correspondent

An MP claims there are more than 6,000 illegal firearms in his constituency.
Saboti's Davies Nakitare said the weapons were being used to terrorise residents. He called for investigations into claims they were being obtained from a neighbouring country.
He cited a case in which a man was arrested last week in Kitalale Phase III with a gun, adding that Mt Elgon Forest and Suam border were being used as transit routes.
The MP, who addressed journalists in Kitale Town, urged National security minister Chris Murungaru to order the recovery of the weapons.
In the past two months, he claimed, seven people had been killed in his constituency. The the culprits had not been arrested.
He urged Trans Nzoia District Commissioner Solomon Ouko to mobilise villagers to help police curb the crime wave.
Mr Nakitare demanded investigations into land-buying cooperatives, which he said were swindling innocent Kenyans of huge amounts of money.
He urged the Lands ministry to nullify allocations in the Kitalale phase III farm, saying most of the beneficiaries were not genuine squatters.

29.03.2004

Development for the Ogiek Communities in Kenya must be addressed on the basis of the following:

Dr. Johnson Changeiywo

Cited letter:

Dear Colleagues,
 
This case at Mt. Elgon once again illustrates the points I have been making over the past few years:
 
(a) The case of forest dwellers should be taken very seriously and not only mentioned when a crisis occurs. All stakeholders should sit together and work out modalities that will enable these people      to live a respectable life.
 
(b) Kenya's indigenous forests are so degraded that they cannot possibly sustain even a small            number of forest dwellers.
 
(c) Do we as Kenyans want some of our citizens to live in forests for ever? Within the current forest legislation, it means that those who dwell in forests will not have access to schools, hospitals, electricity and other amenities. We need to look at this question very critically.

Dominic Walubengo, PhD
Director
Forest Action Network
P.O. Box 380 Uhuru Gardens
00516 Nairobi, Kenya
Tel/Fax: +254-20-891035
E-mail: DWalubengo@fanworld.org

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Comment on a defamatory letter written by the members of the POK community through a Geoffry Kipsisey:

Dear All,

I wish to comment on Mr Kipsisey argument on Chepyuk clash. His intention was to try and misinform everybody about the truth by using ignorant information to try and achieve his selfish end.

Historians and anthropologist have sufficient prove of existence of Ogiek in Mt. Elgon. His point of argument is based on a book which we are waiting to read.

I have personally been to Chepyuk and Interviewed the former Ogiek Chief Tenderezi and other elders on the history of Ogiek of Chepkitale of which I have a video. I did exercise that in August 2002. We have had several meeting with all the Ogiek leaders including Dr. Changeiywo, who is one of the respected elites of the Ogiek nation. In brief there are Ogiek in Mt Elgon and they have no relation with Saboats apart from being neighbours.

Regards

Daniel M. Kobei

OGIEK PEOPLES' DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM (OPDP)
Maa Tower 2nd Floor
P.O BOX 622
NAROK-KENYA
TEL 254-O305-23185/254-0722433757/254-037-62452

26.03.2004

Comment on a defamatory letter written by the members of the POK community through a Geoffry Kipsisey:

Dr. Johnson Changeiywo

17.03.2004

REQUEST by the Mt. Elgon Ogiek
17. March 2004

The Chepkitale Ogiek are requesting their friends and supporters to address their plight by also telling the government to observe the following:

Report compiled by:
Dr. Johnson Changeiywo, Chairman,
Chepkitale Indegenous Peoples Development Project (CIPDP)
e-mail: jchangeiywo@yahoo.com 

---------------------------------------------------

10.03.2004

Letter by Survival International to the Kenya Government
 

H. E, The Hon. Emilio Mwai Kibaki, C.G.H., M.P.
State House
P.O. Box 40530
Nairobi
Kenya

Fax: +(254-20) 210150,

March 10, 2004

Your Excellency

Re: Attack at Mt Elgon

Survival is extremely disturbed by the recent events at Chepyuk forest, on the slopes of
Mt Elgon. The local community of the Ogiek people was attacked, two people have
been killed, others severely wounded, and two hundred houses burnt down. The
aggressors are reported to be from the Pok (Sabaot) a local dominant group,

This forest area was originally inhabited by the Chepkitale Ogiek hunter-gatherer
people. In the 1970s 24,000 acres of the land was legally assigned to the Ogiek as a
settlement scheme, but since then it has been infiltrated by the Sabaot. The attack was
apparently intended to drive out the remaining Ogiek settlers. As the original inhabitants
of the Mount Elgon forest, the Ogiek ought to have the right to inhabit a much larger
area, but now they are being deprived of even the portion that was assigned to them.

30 Ogiek were arrested and reportedly severely beaten, in spite of the fact that they
were only defending themselves, and of these nine are still in jail and seventeen on bail.
None of the aggressors have been arrested.

We urge that the legal right of the Ogiek to the settlement be upheld, that those
reponsible for the attack be brought to justice, and that the Ogiek who are in prison or
on bail be either speedily brought to trial or released outright.

Yours sincerely,

Stephen Corry
Director

cc: The Hon. Kiraitu Murungi, Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs
The Hon. Newton Kulundu, M.P., Minister for Environment

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Update 09.03.2004

Report from the Ground

Of the 30 plus Ogiek defenders, who have been arrested:

several elderly people, who had been severely injured, because they were heavily beaten up, were sent away.

9 Ogiek are still under investigation and in jail

1 Ogiek defender for whom a bond of 100.000 KSh was ruled is still in jail, since the people simply can not get that huge amount of money (1.500 US$) together.

1 Ogiek defender, Mr. Benson Simotwa, who was shot from the back by the attackers still is hospitalized in Lukullu Mission Hospital and under 24h guard of administration police (AP). His bullet wound is serious and he doesn't know how to pay the medical bill, since also his elbow was hit by the bullet and requires specialist surgery.

17 Ogiek have been released on a 30.000 KSh (400 US$) bond each and are outside the cells.

Still none of the attackers has been arrested and it is believed that the murderers fled into Uganda.

Great moral, but very little tangible support for the concerned Ogiek has come forward until today from the international community.

The biggest fear of the many Ogiek, who fled into their ancestral forest and live there in the moment with little or no supply from the outside, is that the GSU (the governmental paramilitary General Service Unit) has been completely withdrawn from the District and another attack from the Pok seems to be immanent.

We urge the Kenya Government to immediately interfere, restore peace by disarming the attackers from the Pok, station security personnel trained in upholding human rights and which is not linked to the local ethnic setting, ensure that no armed or unarmed insurgencies from across the border in Uganda can take place and come to the rescue of the original inhabitants of the Elgon forests: The
Ogiek!

ECOTERRA Intl.

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Mau Forest Indigenous People Under Pressure

NAIROBI, Kenya, March 8, 2004 (ENS) - A scramble for the resources of the Mau forest in western Kenya is displacing indigenous people who have a constitutional right to own homes there. Drought conditions together with logging of the forest is drying up streams that feed into Lake Nakuru.

Late last month two politicians were killed, a woman was wounded and hundreds of people were driven from a site in the Ogiek ancestral forest in western Kenya along the Uganda border, where 200 of their houses were burned to the ground.

The Ogiek, an indigenous people living in Kenya’s Mau Forest, are fighting to remain in their ancestral
homeland. The former government of Kenya tried to force them out of the forests, supposedly to protect the environment, but did set aside some land for them. The Ogiek say they are not an environmental threat, they have been “the guardians of these forests since time immemorial.”

The attackers, from the Pok ethnic group of the Sabaot tribe, grabbed land at Chepyuk given to the Ogiek by the previous government under President Daniel Arap Moi, the Ogiek say.

None of the attackers was arrested, but 30 Ogiek jailed. The local Member of Parliament John Bomet
Serut, a Sabaot, refused to permit the government’s General Service Unit to restore order, because he
claimed that this paramilitary unit itself would worsen the situation by torturing people.

Local donations to the displaced Ogiek were frustrated by the administration of the area, the Ogiek say, and they are appealing for legal aid funding, food, shelter, medical treatment in prison, and a vehicle to patrol their land, as well as health and education facilities.

The ongoing destruction of the Mau catchment area by logging is the underlying problem. The Indigenous Peoples Land Commission of Kenya said the fight over the forest is threatening the survival of at least three million people.

Returning from an extensive tour of the Mau forest last month, commission officials, led by chairman Charles Sena, told reporters that the livelihood of Ogiek and Maasai indigenous communities is at risk.

Tourism in the Maasai Mara Game Reserve and the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem could suffer, the “East
African Standard” newspaper reported February 25.

Forests remain on less than two percent of Kenya’s land, and they are essential for water conservation in this drought prone country. They are home to indigenous peoples that live by hunting animals and gathering food plants, herbs, and honey within the forests.

The Ogiek gather wild plants for food and medicine, and collect honey from beehives that they make from hollow logs and place in the high branches of the forest trees.

On July 6, 2001 the Moi government announced that it had banned logging in the Mau forest, but the logging is continuing, despite some official attempts to stop it. On February 4, police and Kenya Wildlife Service personnel confiscated 30 tons of timber and logging equipment in Nakuru.

Environmental groups in Kenya and around the world have been warning for years that logging in the Mau forest will have a devastating impact on water quality and level in Lake Nakuru, inhabited by the world’s largest concentration of flamingoes and protected under the Ramsar Convention. The lake is Kenya’s second most visited tourist site.

Today Lake Nakuru National Park Chief Warden Joseph Warutere told “The Nation” newspaper that some of the streams running into the lake had lost most of their flow due to the dry conditions and other factors such as “the destruction of Mau Forest.”

Kenya’s fragmented forests harbor half the country’s plant species, 40 percent of mammal species, 35 percent of butterfly species and 30 percent of bird species - on two percent of the country’s land mass.

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2004. All Rights Reserved.

Link: http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/mar2004/2004-03-08-19.asp#anchor2 

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04.03. 2004

Ogiek attacked at Mt. Elgon

Two politicians have so far been killed and hundreds of people were displaced at the controversial Chebyuk settlement scheme, an Ogiek ancestral forests in Western Kenya along the Uganda Border. Guns are being brought in from war torn North Eastern Uganda.
 
No government statement was yet made and little involvement from civil society can be observed. Some of the Ogiek leaders are now in Nakuru seeking refuge as they are being tracked down by the GSU (General Service Unit) - a paramilitary unit. We are trying as much as possible to keep a 24 hr surveillance to see what happens as we try to establish reliable and constant links with those affected on the ground. Elsewhere the Vice-President of Kenya is reported of having assured members of the public and the international community that Kenya is committed to improving its human rights record.
 
Thanks for your concern
 
Sang J.K
OWC

04. March 2004

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Eviction, Brutality and Displacement of Ogiek

Motive of the attack
 
It is politically motivated. The area member of parliament hails from the Pok ethnic group. He's behind the clashes with intention of evicting the Ogiek so that he can settle members of his tribe i.e. the Pok. The area at Chepyuk had been given to Ogiek by the previous government, but the land ended up being grabbed by members from the powerful and dominant group - the Pok. In 1999 the Ogiek filed a case to evict the grabbers but the case didn't take off due to financial constraints and corruption in the courts.
 
Chepyuk is a prime land along Mount Elgon on the Kenyan side.
 
Grounds of arrest
 
The Pok have the political protection. The burning of Ogiek houses forced the Ogiek youth to stand up and protect the heritage. They had to defend the land of their ancestors. This forced the area MP to meet the DC and Police resulting in arresting members of the Ogiek community.
 
There's no member of Pok arrested despite the fact that they are the ones who started burning Ogiek houses and property.
 
Involvement
 
The area member of  Parliament Hon. John Bomet Serut is supporting members of his community - the attacking Pok, a Sabaot people. Besides, the Police and provincial administration are biased because they have so far arrested Ogiek only.
 
Next Move
 
The instigators of the clashes are planning tat after the eviction of the Ogiek in Chepyuk the action will be taken to Chepkitale where the other members of Ogiek are living.
 
Request
 
The members of Ogiek community in Mount Elgon are requesting for publicity of the situation they are
currently living in. Besides, we request the government of Kenya to recognise, respect and protect Ogiek territories and land rights.
 
We shall be grateful for your support
 
Yours faithfully,
 
Yator Kiptum
Chairman
Hunter-Gatherers Forum

N.B.: YOUR HELP COUNTS - contact tari@ecoterra.net

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MP says No to GSU camp

Story by BERNARD KWALIA
Publication Date: 03/04/2004
Daily Nation - Kenya
 

Officers worsening the situation by torturing people, the MP says

Mt Elgon MP John Serut yesterday opposed plans to set up a General Service Unit camp in Chebyuk settlement scheme to stop clashes.

Instead, the MP told Western Provincial Commissioner Hassan Noor Hassan to withdraw the officers who were sent there when violence broke out last month. He claimed they were worsening the situation by shooting and torturing people.

The constituency straddles the Kenya-Uganda border.

At the same time, the PC ordered the screening of allotments of plots at the scheme, saying the exercise had been marred by irregularities.

He was speaking at Kopsiro divisional headquarters at a meeting called to find a solution to the land dispute, which is blamed for the clashes that have caused deaths and torching of 200 houses.

Former assistant minister Joseph Kimkung was kept away from the meeting for fear that he might clash with Mr Serut. Mr Kimkung had come with donations for the displaced people.

He was forced to deliver the donations through county council chairman George Makas.

The former MP said he was told not to attend the meeting for the sake of peace. But he defended himself saying he was out to assist the displaced. He urged well-wishers to donate food and clothing to the victims.

Mr Serut said the district had a low crime rate of crime that did not warrant the presence of GSU.

A permanent solution rests with the elders of the rival groups and the Government should give them time to reconcile instead of using police, Mr Serut said.

The politician complained that the alarming crime rate in Kopsiro and the entire Mt Elgon District was due to laxity among security officers. He said residents volunteered information but no action was taken.

The MP said no arrests were made following the killing of two politicians, councillor Michael Masombo and Mr James Ndiema.

But the PC advised politicians against opposing the Government move to beef up security. He said Chebyuk's security had worsened because people brought guns from Uganda.

The PC said the Government had decided to put up a GSU camp at Kiwanja-DC in the scheme.

He called on people who had fled their homes to return to enable their children attend school.

Area DC James ole Serian was told to form a 10-man committee to oversee the allocation of plots in Phase Three Chebyuk Settlement Scheme, which caused the clashes.

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Voices from the ground

Greetings.

Please, I wish you to bring to your attention that members of the Ogiek hunter-gatherer indigenous community in Mount Elgon district living in Chepyuk forest were last week attacked by members of the Pok (a group of Sabaot). 

At least 200 houses were burnt, hundreds of people left homeless, at least 3 people were killed and several injured. Besides, by this morning at least 30 members of the Ogiek indigenous community have been arrested and awaiting for judgement at Bungoma court.

The displaced families are greatly in need of food, clothing and medicine.

I met their leaders this morning in a Kitale town. They've come to hire a lawyer to represent the arrested community members in court.

We are requesting your esteemed organization to create publicity of this situation and to help where possible.

Thanks for your concern and humane support.

Yours Faithfully,

David Yator Kiptum 

Chairman

Hunter-Gatherers Forum 

(Executive Coordinator, Sengwer Indigenous Development Project, P.O. Box 3894, Kitale 30200, Kenya.)

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THE ISSUE OF CHEPKITALE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES (OGIEK) OF MT. ELGON REGION

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE ISSUE

The Ogiek of Mt. Elgon region have a population totalling to 10,000 people.  They have around 3,000 homesteads.  These people have been staying in Chepkitale Native reserve or trustland since time immemorial.  This then implies that, the said land is their ancestral land.

In 1971 the government decided to settle the Ogiek in Chepyuk forest.  The intention was to make the Ogiek community cultivate crops to feed themselves.  The Ogiek had been hunters, gatherers and pastoralists.  The settlement programme failed due to political interference since only a few Ogiek were settled and the rest left.

The Chepkitale Ogiek being a minority group lack the political support because of their small number.  This has translated into their land rights being neglected.  Due to this, their political, social and cultural systems have been affected.  These Ogiek have constantly been evicted from their home, which is Chepkitale Native Reserve - gazetted in 1938.

THE CURRENT SITUATION
The land allocation at Chepyuk has been going on without the consultation of the Chepkitale Ogiek.  In this regard other people from the Sabaot community through their leaders infiltrated because of their political dominance.

The land that had been set aside for settling the Ogiek had been taken away and the major communities had been settled.  This has been done by selectively harassing the Ogiek, who try to voice their rights.  This kind of intimidation is usually done through the provincial administration.

In this regard the problem over land has been central and has led to conflict which resulted now in the burning of 200 houses and thousands of bags of maize.  When the clashes took place the Ogiek had to take refuge in the forest.  At the moment the Ogiek refugees are inside the Chepkitale Native Reserve where  there are no houses, food, schools or health facilities.  In addition to that over 30 members of Ogiek community have been arrested and beaten to a high degree.  At the same time one of them was shot by the Kenya Police.

Given such situation we are appealing to donors and friends to give us support to save this community.

REQUESTS
· Legal means of ensuring that our people are released from the police cells.
· Provision of food assistance.
· Provision of shelter facilities.
· Support for documentation of the whole crisis and bringing it into outside world.
· Support for capacity building among Chepkitale Ogiek.
· Treatment and medical attention for the Ogiek.
· A vehicle for mobilization which should be four wheel drive due to the terrain of the land.
· Provision of Education and Health facilities.

N/B  The following NGO has been trying to work for the Community:  “Chepkitale
         Indegenous Peoples Development Project (CIPDP)”.

Please make your immediate pledges for assistance and emergency aid to CIPDP via
tari@ecoterra.net

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Five  feared  dead in land  clash

Woman  shot  in  the  stomach  in battle  at  settlement  scheme  in  Mt  Elgon

By  PETER  NG’ETICH  and  BENARD  KWALIA.
Daily  Nation - Friday, 27.02. 2004

Five  people are feared  to have died in Mt. Elgon District when two groups clashed over land yesterday.

Two of the dead were adults. The rest of the victims were burnt to death as their parents fled.

The arms of  the three people were chopped off and a Woman shot in the stomach with an arrow in the clash at the controversial Chepyuk settlement scheme.

One group was attempting to evict the other from phase I and  II of the scheme, which is 60 kilometres from Kapsokwony,  the District Headquaters.

More than 200 homes were set on fire in  Kubra area of  the scheme. Livestock, food and  household goods were  stolen.

The injured were rushed to Misikhu Mission Hospital in Bungoma where they are being treated. The attackers were armed with AK-47 rifles, bows and arrows, machetes and clubs in  the attack that started on Wednesday.  Learning in 10 primary  schools was interrupted as teachers, pupils and parents fled to the neighbouring Bungoma District.

Five suspects were arrested and taken to Kapsokwony Police Station. The suspects threw their guns into Sosablel River before their arrest. The Nation found Police Officers trying to retrieve the guns.

Eleven elders, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they were evicted after a politician allegedly threatened to force them out of  the  24,000-acre  settlement scheme  hived  off  from Mt. Elgon Forest.

„This is our land and we fail to understand why people from a neighbouring  country were allowed to settle in Kenya while  not a single Kenyan is settled in their Country,“  said  the  elders.

Western provicial police chief Alex Rono, Mt.  Elgon district commissioner James Ole  Serian and area police boss David  Makokha were at the scene of  the attack.

More than 50 people lost their lives in clashes prior to the 1992 and 1997 general elections.

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Monday, January 19, 2004

Clergy appeal over Ndorobo eviction
Standard Correspondents

Environment Minister Newton Kulundu has been asked to spare the Dorobo residing in Chepyuk forest in Mt Elgon District from eviction.

The Reformed Church of East Africa clergyman, the Rev Moses Mbito, and Leonard Ndiema of the Anglican Church of Kenya told Kulundu that Dorobos in the area have nowhere to go.

They said the Provincial Administration had started threatening the community with eviction yet they are hunters and gatherers.

The clerics, who were addressing news reporters in Eldoret town, yesterday said the community had been issued with quit notices ahead of the March 31 deadline.

They said it was unfair for the administration to issue quit notices to the community without giving them alternative places for settlement.

Environment Assistant Minister, Prof Wangari Maathai, was quoted in the East African Standard on Wednesday last Week as saying Dorobo and Ogiek communities will be allowed to remain in State forests.

Meanwhile, Marakwet West MP, Mr David Sudi, has said his constituents will not move out of Government forests.

He instead wants the Government to find alternative land to settle thousands of his constituents who are residing in the forests.

Sudi said families of Marakwet freedom fighters were allocated parts of the forests by colonialists in 1922. The MP said the colonial government had issued the settlers with permits to reside in the forests.

"Initially, they were few people, but they have since multiplied and todate, the population runs into thousands," Sudi said in Eldoret.

Link : http://www.eastandard.net/national/nat19010405.htm

The Struggle of the Chepkitale Ogiek
by Dr. Johnson Changeiywo 

Dr. Johnson Changeiywo 
Chairman 
Chepkitale Indigenous Peoples Development Project (CIPDP) 
e-mail: jchangeiywo@yahoo.com 

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