Kenyan Government Evicted 700 Indigenous People from the Mau Forest
William Ruto, President of Kenya, visiting the Seoul National Cemetery in November 2022. Photo: KOCIS/Jeon Han.
The Kenyan government evicted 700 indigenous people of the Ogiek tribe, from the Mau Forest Complex on Nov. 2. This move is a violation of the 2017 court ruling that was supposed to secure the Ogiek peoples’ right to live on the land.
Rangers from Kenya’s Wildlife and Forest Services tore down 400 homes of the Ogiek community and displaced families. The displaced families were forced to create makeshift shelters to protect themselves from the rain.
William Ruto, the President of Kenya, announced in October that he was increasing the capabilities of the wildlife and forest rangers to protect the land from illegal encroachers, logging, and anything that would interfere with the integrity of the forest. Instead, forest rangers destroyed homes of the Mau forest residents. Many of which have claims to land, but the validity of those claims is being disputed.
The evictions of Ogiek peoples violate the African Court of Human and People’s Rights ruling. The reparations commanded by the court in 2022 have yet to be fulfilled by the Kenyan government. As restitution the court ordered the Kenyan government to pay 57,850,00 KES [about 38147 USD] for loss of property, 100,000,000 KES [about 659413 USD] for suffered moral prejudice, full recognition of the Ogiek as indigenous peoples, and protection of the groups’ right to property.
They were also ordered to involve the Ogiek in decisions concerning the development and conservation of their ancestral lands. The government formed a task force to study and address the ruling, but it did not include any member from the Ogiek community nor consult them despite their repeated requests to the Attorney General.
The Mau forest is one of five important water catchment areas, referred to as water towers, that provide Kenya with 75 percent of the country's water resources. The Ogiek people have lived in the Mau Forest since pre-colonial times and continue to rely on the forest for their livelihood. This is not the first time the Ogiek are facing forced evictions. Back in July 2018, the Human Rights Watch found that the Kenyan forest rangers committed violent evictions that resulted in the death of nine people.
A boy planting a tree during the Mau Forest Restoration-Tree-Planting exercise. Photo: Global Landscapes Forum/Antony Odhiambo.
The repeated evictions and slow implementation of the court orders from 2017 are a continuation of the disregardment of the rights of the Ogiek people that started during colonialism. Throughout Kenya’s post-colonial history, the reigning government displaced the Ogiek people along with other indigenous tribes in the Mau forest.
There are also serious doubts about the government's intentions behind these evictions. Dr. Justin Kenrick, representative from the Forest People’s Programme, claims that the government is performing the evictions to capitalize on carbon credits, a lucrative business that the Kenyan government is trying to expand.
The two billion dollar business is expected to grow five-fold its current value by 2030, which African countries could benefit from, given the continent’s access to the second largest forest in the world.
The breach of rights of the Ogiek people by the government, for monetary gain or not, raises concerns for the rights of all indigenous groups in the country. The ability of courts, such as the African Court of Human and People’s Rights to uphold human rights in Africa given the rampant noncompliance of the African government is also called into question.