Mau settlers troop out as forest force arrives

The flow of illegal settlers out of Mau Forest started on Wednesday, a day after the government deployed security officers ready to evict them.

The settlers, frightened by the show of force and a history of brutal evictions, appealed to the government to give them alternative land even as they packed their belongings, ready to leave.

Though there was panic in some of the villages, a full scale migration had not started. However, some settlers were already moving out.

Packing up

At Chematich and Tiriyta villages deep in Ndoinet forest, one of the areas targeted in the first phase of the evictions, farmers were packing up and moving away.

After weeks of dithering in the hope that the government’s resolve would crumble, the arrival of armed rangers in their villages seemed to have finally persuaded some villagers that there was little to be gained by staying on.

About 300 officers, the first batch of an eviction force, were deployed in the area on Monday and pitched two camps at Kapkembu and Saina in South-western Mau.

The officers maintained that their job was to provide security and that they would only kick out those who were reluctant to move.

A notice requiring the illegal settlers to move out of the largest water tower in Kenya, which measures about 400,000 hectares, expired on Monday.

Kenya Forestry Services director David Mbugua said the government chose South Western Mau for the start of the evictions because the settlers had no documents to back their occupation of the forest land.

The move also marked a crucial stage in the battle that Prime Minister Raila Odinga has fought to reclaim the water tower. Rift Valley MPs had earlier opposed the evictions of the settlers and demanded they be compensated before they could be ordered to leave.

Compensation

However, the settlers will now wait for the compensation as the government seeks to raise Sh38 billion to finance the evictions, compensation, planting of trees and fencing.

On Wednesday, a crowd of some 200 villagers gathered at an open field within Tiriyta farm, some 70 kilometres from Molo Town, from as early as dawn after word went round that the officers would be moving in to evict those who are still on their farms.

As fear of forceful eviction spread, the villagers came out with the little they could carry, leaving behind homes, property and a ripening maize crop.

A few dragged along their reluctant goats and tethered them at the field as they awaited word from the authorities.

Asked if they had permanently left their homes, the villagers said they had property which they could not carry and were still hoping that the government would give them more time to move.

Their main concern was the maize in the farms, which most of them were looking forward to harvesting in a few months.

Some of those interviewed said they had lived in the forest for decades and evicting them had left them as internally displaced persons.

“We are not against moving out, but where to?” asked Mr David Ng’eno.

He showed a number of land allocation cards from the government indicating that the owners had been given five acres each within the Ndoinet Settlement Scheme. Most of the cards were issued through the Nakuru district commissioner’s office in 1996.

“We need help from the government. We have documents showing we were genuinely given the land.”

Ms Sabina Boses, a mother of six, said the five acres she lived on was her family’s only possession. She asked the government to consider giving those affected alternative land. “Even if we are given half an acre, it will be enough place to put my head,” she said.

Earlier, Mr Isaac Wafula, the Ndoinet Forest Officer, said the settlers had started filing out after the arrival of the officers.

“They may not be moving out en masse, but once a few started moving out, the message sunk that there was no other alternative and the others are following suit,” he told the Nation.

The government had announced that it would begin evicting the settlers yesterday, the first step in reclaiming part of the 400,000 hectare forest complex, an important source of water for the country.

On Tuesday, Wildlife minister Noah Wekesa said the first phase of the eviction targets 16,000 families on 19,000 hectares. The Kenya Forestry Service says the families have no documents and no right to be in the forest.