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Kenya: Protests Over Mau Invasion
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The Nation (Nairobi)
24 July 2008
Posted to the web 24 July 2008
George Sayagie And Kennedy Masibo
Nairobi
Sixty councillors on Wednesday called for urgent action to stop the destruction of Mau Forest.
Led by Narok county council chairman Solomon Moriaso, the civic leaders said the rape of the water catchment was an ecological disaster that must be stopped. They also supported plans to evict farmers from the Mau.
The group claimed that illegal settlers were trooping to the forest hoping to be resettled alongside genuine squatters.
"If more illegal immigrants are allowed into the catchment area and those who were settled are not evicted, Tourism at the Masaai Mara Game Reserve and the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania will collapse in a short period," said Mr Moriaso at a Press conference in Molo Town.
The councillors said more than 10 million people in Ololongoi, Olpusimoru, Olokurto, Ololulunga, Ewaso Nyiro, Mulot, Bomet and other areas depended directly on the 12 rivers originating from the Mau Forest and would be adversely affected by the destruction.
Task force
Meanwhile, the Ogiek Welfare Council has criticised the newly-formed taskforce on the Mau, saying it ought to have included more interest groups.
The coordinator of the lobby group, Mr Kimaiyo Towett, said the taskforce's report would have far reaching effects on communities such as the Ogiek. The community is already represented in the team picked by Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
Mr Towett said the various individuals in the taskforce had competing interests which were bound to affect its mission. The official also suggested that the names of the beneficiaries be made public and that genuine squatters be given alternative land.
He said that some parts of the Mau were not water catchment areas and could be used as farmland. According to him, the Government should also give those affected reasonable time to move out.
Compensated
He agreed with National Heritage minister William ole Ntimama that speculators were trooping to Western Mau and Masaai Mau following the Government's directive that settlers in the forest would be compensated.
"We suspect the influx has got to do with the pending eviction so that there is a huge population to deal with in the affected area," Mr Towett said.
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The taskforce is expected to give its report before October, by which time settlers are required to have left the forest.
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