Mau Forest evictees vow to return over delayed compensation

Mau Forest evictees have vowed to return to the forest if the government fails to compensate them.

The evictees comprising of close to 148 families had been relocated at different Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in Kiletiet, Kipkoris and Kiptororo Wards in Kuresoi Constituency after they were evicted from the water tower in 2013.

Speaking at Keringet in Kuresoi Sub County, Nakuru County the evictees led by Robert Mutai their coordinator said they have given the government three days to look into their compensation, adding that if it fails they would return to the forest on November 1.

They said efforts to speak to special programs officers in charge have failed as most of them had their phones switched off, yet the officials at the National Bank where their compensations were to be channeled kept directing them back to the special programs officers for documentation of the transaction.

They further complained of harsh conditions in the camps, and accused the government of neglecting them.

The evictees accused government officials of using the land in the Mau to farm tea for their own benefit.

“If we will not have received the money in our accounts, we will have no alternative but to return to the farms and uproot tea to enable us to settle there,” said Lang’at, an evictee.

Written by Lucy Akinyi