Nairobi — Members of a taskforce mandated to investigate the Mau Forest settlements met a hostile reception in the area.

The Prime Minister's taskforce on the Mau complex was on a tour of some of the settlement schemes in the Mau East Forest in Molo District.

Alternative land

Residents told them that they would not move out of the water catchment area until they were compensated by the Government or offered alternative land.

Former Kuresoi MP Moses Cheboi told the team led by Prof Fred Owino at Chepkoburot in Ndoinet that instead of evicting the settlers, the Government should educate them on ways of conserving the forest.

He insisted that those living in the forest were there legally because they had been settled there by the past regime.

The leader blamed the Government for the settlers' woes, saying even President Kibaki had given out 2,500 title deeds to members of the Ogiek community when he toured the area in 2005.

At some point, Mr Peter ole Sina, a member of the taskforce, sided with the residents, accusing the Government of illegally allocating the land.

"The Government should not harass you. Hold on to your title deeds to prove your ownership of the land," he told them.

Stop destruction

Addressing the more than 1,000 residents, Prof Owino explained that the taskforce would establish how people came to settle there and make recommendations on how to handle the matter.

He said the destruction of the water catchment was so immense that urgent national and internal interventions were required to stop the destruction.

The decision to get the settlers out of the forest has divided politicians especially in the Orange Democratic Movement.