This archive report was first published on 12 June 2020.
On May 13, 2020, Justice Stephen Kibunja of the Environment and Lands Court in Eldoret delivered a ruling that dealt a significant blow to the Sengwer community's quest to claim Embobut Forest in Elgeyo Marakwet County as their own.
The court dismissed a suit filed by the community in 2013, arguing that the forest was public land and could not be claimed by the Sengwer as theirs. The community had argued that their right to participate in their cultural life would be contravened if the intended evictions were to be carried out.
However, the court ruled that the forest had been gazetted as a national forest by the colonial administration in 1954 and later declared a central forest in 1964. The court further stated that no evidence had been tabled in court showing the legal ownership of the Embobut Forest by the community.
Despite the setback, the Sengwer community has vowed to continue their fight for the forest. In a petition filed in 2018, the community had argued that they had suffered violent attacks, including burning of houses and destruction of property by the Kenya Forest Service, in a bid to force their eviction.
Kenya Forest Service had argued that the forest had been unlawfully invaded and inhabited by different ethnic groups, including Pokots, Marakwets, Kikuyus and the Sengwer, practising farming and livestock keeping at the expense of conservation efforts. The government had offered Sh1.1 billion to resettle 2,864 households that were living as squatters in Embobut Forest in 2014, stating that each household received Sh400,000 to acquire alternative land outside the forest.
