National Government Urged to Provide Alternative Settlement for the Ogiek Community
Uasingishu County Leaders have urged the government to provide alternative settlement for the Ogiek Community which is an indigenous forest Community.
Speaking in Cherus village, Kesses Sub-Count, during the homecoming ceremony of Hon. Juliet Jelimo, a member of the Ogiek Community who was nominated to The Uasin Gishu Assembly, Governor Jonathan Bii, and Kesses Member of Parliament Julius Ruto, called for the dignified treatment of the Ogiek Community, days after the court ruled that the hunters and gatherers are illegally residing in the forests.
“We will push for a dignified resettlement of the Ogiek Community following the Court Ruling, We will also continue encouraging the Community to embrace Education,” said Uasin Gishu governor Jonathan Bii Alias Koti Moja.
The Kesses Member of Parliament Julius Ruto faulted the Courts saying it did not offer an alternative settlement for the Ogiek after declaring that they were illegally inhabiting the Forests.
“We urge the New Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Forestry Soipan Tuya to ensure the Ogiek community is given alternative land by Government for their settlement and we urge that the process of removing the Ogiek from the forests is conducted in a humane way, “Said Ruto.
The Ogiek Community living in the Chepkitale area in Mt Eldon Forest had sued the Government for evicting them from their ancestral land and Gazetting it as a National Game Reserve.
However, a three-judge –bench of the Environment and Lands Court in Bungoma County led by Justice Boaz Olao ruled the community should vacate the Forest without any compensation since they had already been resettling at the Chepyuk Settlement Scheme.
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