This archive report was first published on 4 November 2019.
On October 23, 2019, Mau Forest evictees were seen living in makeshift tents at Chepokundi in Kuresoi South. In a bid to alleviate their suffering, Rift Valley leaders have identified a 24-acre parcel in Tendwet, Narok South Constituency, to temporarily settle some of the 10,000 families evicted from the Maasai Mau Forest.
Kericho Senator Aaron Cheruiyot stated that families who moved out of the 17,101-acre Government forest and have nowhere to go will be given priority. The land will be used to temporarily shelter Mau evictees who are in absolute distress and don't have alternative land, Mr. Cheruiyot said at Chelilis AIC in Kericho County.
According to sources, a group of Rift Valley leaders raised funds to purchase land to resettle the most vulnerable. It is unclear how much money has been raised towards the initiative, but it appears the leaders have given up hope of the Government resettling evictees.
Yesterday, Senator Cheruiyot and MPs Kiptergech Mutai, Brighton Yegon, and Florence Bore called for the immediate arrest of all Government officials involved in the demarcation and allocation of land in the Mau Forest complex. They claimed the settlers were duped into buying land that belonged to the State and that someone needed to be held accountable for that.
