Kenya: Evictions of forest dwellers 'inhuman'

The Kenyan Government has refuted claims that the evictions of settlers from the Mau Forest are inhuman.

The government has not gone back on its word and those leaving the forest were provided with transport and food, Forestry and Wildlife Minister, Dr Noah Wekesa said in a statement on November 16.

He also accused leaders from the region of politicising the process saying, "The people who moved out have been provided with transport to take them where they would like to go. Livelihood support is already on ground to cater for all encroachers for at least one month,"

He made the remarks as the Kenya Forest Services (KFS) started evicting squatters still lingering in the Mau Forest.

Those ejected joined nearly 2,000 now camping in three temporary camps after moving out of the dwellings in the South Western Mau. A team of forest service rangers moved deeper into the forest at Tinet where the settlers were persuaded to move out.

The armed officers did not use any force but talked to the concerned families and even helped them transport their belonging in their trucks. KFS trucks streamed out of the forest, carrying mainly women and children as men drove their animals and others carted households on donkey backs.

The operation got under way as the first form of humanitarian assistance started trickling in for the families staying in the cold in the temporary structures. A team of Red Cross personnel arrived at Kapkembu on Monday afternoon and proceeded to distribute what they termed "non-food items" - blankets, soaps and mosquito nets to the families.

However, the plight of the displaced families was worsened by heavy rains the whole afternoon. According to reports by the Daily Nation from camps in Kapkembu, Saino, Ndoinet, Tiriita and Kipkongor last week found that none of the arrangements promised by Forestry minister was in place.

Dr Wekesa said the eviction of settlers would continue as similar evictions had been undertaken in Mt Kenya, Mt Elgon, Cherangany and Aberdares. "People have been removed from Embobut Forest in Marakwet and Marmanet Forest in Nyahururu, "Our appeal to all Kenyans is to support the government's conservation efforts as they are not targeted to any community," said Dr Wekesa.

So far more than 2, 000 squatters have left the forest in Chematich, Olenguruone, Kapkembu and Saino. The situation in Mau has been described as grave and it is imperative that the government urgently assists the families who are camped by the roadside.

Mau Forest is a forest complex in the Rift Valley of Kenya. It is the largest indigenous Montane forest in East Africa. The Mau Forest complex has an area of more than 27,000. Over the last two decades, the Mau Complex has lost approximately 25 percent of its forest cover - around 107,000 hectares (413 square miles) - due to irregular and unplanned settlements, illegal resources extraction, in particular logging and charcoal burning, the change of land use from forest to unsustainable agriculture and change in ownership from public to private.

The forest area has some of the highest rainfall rates in Kenya. Mau Forest is the largest water catchment area in Kenya. Numerous rivers originate from the forest, including Ewaso Ng'iro River (southern), Sondu River, Mara River and Njoro River. These rivers feed Lake Victoria, Lake Nakuru and Lake Natron. Westerns slopes of the Mau Escarpment are covered by Mau Forest.

The strategic importance of the Mau Forest lies in the ecosystem services it provides to Kenya and the region - river flow regulation, flood mitigation, water storage, reduced soil erosion, biodiversity, carbon sequestration, carbon reservoir and microclimate regulation.

Source: CISA