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Ogiek protest presence
of surveyors in East Mau Forest
by the Ogiek Welfare Council
The following
statement was issued in Nairobi by the Ogiek Welfare Council and
distributed by Rights Features Service. The Ogiek Welfare Council,
P.O. Box 12069, Nakuru, Kenya. E-mail: ogiek@africaonline.co.ke.
(January
12, 2001) The Ogiek Welfare Council wishes to protest the presence
of government land surveyors at the East Mau Forest who continue
to demarcate land despite a court order. This is purely contemptuous
and takes place despite our filing of contempt proceedings against
the government.
The court
order was issued on 15th October 1997 and the government continues
to embark on this dastard exercise ignoring the plight of the
Ogiek community who live within the forest.
We challenge
the government to come out clearly and explain why these surveys
are going on.
The group
doing the demarcation is led by a Mr. Joseph Rono who says he
was "employed by the government" to assist the surveyors.
We have noted
with great concern comments by the Elburgon D.O. [district officer]
who claims that this is a government project and is taking place
within Nakuru District and that Marioshoni will not be an exception.
The D.O. has warned us not to interfere with the program and threatened
that we are playing around with bees.
The government
wants to force us into a settlement we have previously rejected
and challenged in court. We challenged the settlement because:
1. It disinherits
our birthright — in that we were only getting a small portion
of our ancestral land in East Mau Forest, while the rest was being
dished to outsiders.
2. The sub-division
also interferes with our clan-based land tenure system, where
land is communally owned, by seeking to introduce the Western-styled
individual owned system.
3. The people
who were being brought had their own homes elsewhere and were
only getting additional land. We do believe that they are not
landless.
4. The government
is trying to seek a political solution to our problem.
Meanwhile,
Kuresoi MP [Member of Parliament] James Koskei recently told a
public meeting that Tinet and Kiptororo wards will be phased [out]
in the new electoral boundaries review. The said wards are inhabited
by the Ogiek community and we will resist attempts to phase them
out. We understand that Neisuit ward has been scrapped and we
feel this is an attempt to reduce our voice within the local government.
Signed,
Joseph Kimaiyo Towett
Ezekiel Kesendany
For Ogiek Welfare Council
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