This archive report was first published on 7 October 2019.
On October 6, 2019, a group of Sengwer community members set out on a 400km journey to Nairobi, determined to present a petition to President Uhuru Kenyatta to stop evictions from their forest home.
The walk started in Tangul, adjacent to the 21,000-hectare Embobut forest, and the group made stopovers in Kapcherop and Kitale in Elgeyo Marakwet and Trans Nzoia counties respectively.
According to Yator Kitum, one of the organisers of the walk, the group had received overwhelming support from residents and civil society groups in the towns they had passed through.
“The police were also supportive and that encouraged us to continue with our journey knowing our security is guaranteed. So far, the walk has been good and we are hoping to seek audience with the President on human rights issues our community is facing,” said Mr Kitum.
The community is seeking recognition as a distinct tribe and wants to be involved in forest conservation efforts. They have written their own forest conservation by-laws, which they hope will be adopted by the State.
“We want to have talks with the State to see how we can collaborate in forest conservation,” said Kitum.
The group's secretary, Elias Kimaiyo, accused security forces of burning their houses during evictions and said the community has suffered huge losses since independence.
“Indigenous communities across the world are custodians of forests. This is because they conserve and use forests in a sustainable manner. The forests exist because we exist,” said Mr Kimaiyo.
