|
OGIEK MEMORANDUM
TO THE TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION TASKFORCE
On June 16 Ogiek
representatives addressed the Truth and Reconciliation taskforce
on behalf of the Ogiek communities. He presented the memorandum
included below.
JUNE 16, 2003 On
the behalf of the Ogiek community we present this memorandum in
support of the formation of the truth and reconciliation
commission. This we do so with the following reasons. It will lead
to the truth: About the origin and causes of the tribal clashes
and who were the beneficiaries; About the population transfer of
the Kalenjin persons from their respective districts to the Ogiek
ancestral lands in Nakuru District; The successive mistreatment of
the Ogiek and their property by the Kenyatta and Moi regimes; The
mass arrests, false charges and forced disappearances of the Ogiek
leaders by the state machinery; The looting of the forest products/trees
by officer of the former regimes and how these facts affected our
environment alongside the national economy; For in doing so, it
will not only be to the Ogiek’s benefit, but also to all Kenyans
who were evicted in these forests in the late 1980’s only, for
the same areas to be declared an adjudication area a few years
later.
This document was
signed by J.K. Towett, Kones Solomon, and Kiplangat Cheruiyot on
behalf of the Ogiek people.
|
