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Ogiek case to be
mentioned in court on July 3
by John Kamau, Rights Features Service
(June 22,
2001) The case in which the Ogiek tribe of Kenya wants the government
stopped from degazetting part of their Mau Forest land will be
mentioned on July 3.
However,
no date has been fixed when the hearing of the case will begin.
"We are still
waiting to argue our case," Ogiek Welfare Council spokesman, Joseph
Towett told Rights Features Service today.
The hearing
of the case had been delayed after both Ogiek and government attorney
sought more time before they begin arguing the case. The mention
of the case is to give the lawyers a chance to tell the court
whether they are ready to proceed with the case.
The Ogiek
went to court in March this year seeking to challenge the degazettement
of their land, a process which could lead to the invasion of their
forest land, hitherto preserved as forest land.
The government
had in February announced its intention to excise some 168,000
acres from Kenya forests to give to the "landless" but environmental
groups opposed the idea arguing that this was an excuse to give
the land to politically-correct individuals.
A separate
case has been filed in the western Kenya town of Eldoret challenging
the government intention while the Ogiek filed a separate case
in Nairobi.
An earlier
move to have the two cases consolidated failed after the Ogiek
said they want to argue their case separately.
The Ogiek
say that the Eldoret case, although is challenging the intended
excision, does not recognize the Ogiek as legal inhabitants of
Mau forest.
"The bottom
line is the recognition of this land as our cultural heritage,"
says Towett.
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