Forest rangers arrive in Mau forest in readiness to relocate settlers in Mau Forest Complex. (Photo Courtesy George Sayagie)

Nairobi — The huge green building can be seen from more than 10 kilometres away, surrounded by acres of lush greenery.

Trucks loaded with brown bags of green tea drive into the compound by the minute and to confirm that life goes on undisturbed, there is a line of sacks on conveyor belts coming out of a hole on the side of the building and disappearing into another.

The air is filled with the smell of tea and the acres of green interspersed with lines of trees indicate that Kiptagich Tea Factory will never run out of the raw product it needs to survive.

A line of neat houses in the middle of the plantation and the power lines serving them are an indicator that the occupants are comfortable, if not wealthy. Several ridges away, via rough roads and others that have only been travelled very recently, women have dug holes in the ground and by placing a few dry sticks there, can make fires for cooking.

The place they now call home has makeshift structures covered with branches and twigs that would not shelter them if it rained, and there are indications that that might happen any time soon. That is the contrast that greets a visitor to Kipkongor, a camp located on the edge of the Mau Forest being reclaimed in the first phase.

According to Mr Samuel arap Sang, a pastor who has moved out of the forest, pregnant women and mothers with young children are bearing the brunt of the evictions.

Some have babies as young as three months. A woman is said to have given birth at the camp site located on a farm. The locals describe the border between the settlement scheme and the forest as "the cutline," beyond which they dare not go for fear of security officers who have set up camp there.

The land on which they are camping belongs to Mr Richard Chepkwony, who names his neighbours as a former Nairobi provincial commissioner, a former Internal Security permanent secretary, an ambassador and the sons of retired President Moi. Kiptagich Tea Factory, which stands on Mau Forest land, is owned by the former president.