This archive report was first published on 7 September 2019.
On September 7, 2019, the Nation reported on the looming evictions in the Mau Forest, a vital water catchment that supports about 10 million people in Kenya and other countries in the region.
The forest has drastically shrunk in size and value in recent years due to human settlement, government excisions, illegal logging, and fires.
At the global level, the massive destruction of Mau also evokes fears about climate change.
However, the Kenyan government's restoration plan, which involves kicking settlers out of the forest, is being implemented in a manner that is plainly wrong.
By failing to provide alternative settlement to the hundreds of thousands of targeted evictees, the government risks swelling the numbers of the country's internal refugees and creating another humanitarian crisis.
Many parts of the country are already teeming with internally displaced persons, including victims of ethnic clashes and election-related violence.
Some 60,000 families will be affected by the latest and second round of evictions set to be enforced by October 31, 2019.
As reported by the Nation, the first phase of evictions in July 2018 saw 12,000 people kicked out of the forest, with security officers employing crude and cruel tactics, including torching houses.
The evictions have also been selective, with the poor being the soft target, while the wealthy and political elite, who have benefited from the Mau Forest land-grab, are left untouched.
