Relief in sight for evicted Mau squatters

The Kenyan Government has started delivering food aid for squatters evicted from the Mau Forest. Special Programmes permanent secretary Ali Mohammed said maize, beans and vegetable oil worth Sh4.8 million were delivered to Kuresoi, Bureti and Bomet districts last week.

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He said the food would be distributed to squatters whose relocation began on Tuesday after a two-week deadline issued by the government to vacate the water tower expired.

Are miserable

The food comprises 990 bags of maize, 450 bags of beans and 390 cartons of oil. District commissioners in the three districts have also been given Sh100,000 each to cover distribution costs. But as the government moves to take care of the humanitarian needs of those evicted, leaders from the region have condemned the manner in which the squatters were ejected.

On Sunday, former Cabinet minister Nicholas Biwott appealed to the Ministry of Special Programmes to treat the squatters who left the forest voluntarily with dignity. He donated Sh100,000. “They are miserable and have nowhere to go; their new home as yet unavailable,” he said.

He urged the government to immediately assist the affected families by providing food, tents, clothing, medicine and other resources. He said the squatters should be rewarded for heeding government appeals to vacate the forest. Thousands of families have voluntarily moved out of the Mau in phase one of the relocation programme which ended on Monday. Although the government pledged that the evictions would be humane, those who moved out voluntarily have found themselves camping by the roadside.

Rift Valley members of Parliament, led by Agriculture minister William Ruto have condemned the evictions, saying what was agreed on by the Cabinet had not been adhered to. Mr Ruto said compensation should have been paid to the squatters as they left the forest land.

He blamed Prime Minister Raila Odinga for what he described as a witch-hunt of the community. The government estimates that Sh38 billion will be needed to restore the Mau Forest Complex and has already appealed to the international community to help raise the funds.

Meanwhile, teachers in Rift Valley Province on Tuesday urged the government to consider the plight of children attending schools in the Mau Forest. The Kenya National Union of Teachers Rift Valley provincial council secretary Sammy Bor said the evictions would create numerous problems.

“This is a humanitarian crisis, especially coming soon after the election violence which disrupted education,” he said. Mr Bor said hundreds of children have had to abandon school and others were likely to do so as the evictions continue.

More than 3,000 squatters have left the south western part of the Mau Forest and are camping at Kapsongor. The government says those being evicted in the first two phases had no title deeds and would have to go back where they came from.