Alarm sounded over fake title deeds

Narok County commissioner Arthur Osiya has cautioned the public over the issuance of fake title deeds by unscrupulous businessmen in the contentious Mau complex.

Osiya said that a lot of people who gained title deeds in the Mau had been duped by conmen. He strongly maintained that Mau forest was not for sale insisting that any one who will fall prey should report the matter to the police.

The commissioner said that they had arrested five people suspected of issuing fake title deeds for land within the Mau complex.

Osiya, who was speaking at Olosiyioi primary during the launch of a tree planting exercise in Narok, noted that the survival of the county is anchored in the conservation of Mau forest. He stated that the provincial administration was out to conserve the forest adding that politicians should steer away from politicking about Mau.

Early this year, the Mau complex had been destroyed by fire after which forest dwellers were evicted from the ecosystem.

Kenya Forest Service Director Narok County James Mburu accused illegal loggers of the highly decreasing forest cover in the Mau complex.

He said that KFS had managed to get forest dwellers out of Olposimoru block in a bid to conserve the forest. He added that over 7,000 hectares of the forest had been destroyed but KFS had started reclaiming the same.

Kenya Wildlife Service community Warden Zipporah Adagi urged the public to plant trees for the sake of avoiding human-wildlife conflict.