The Environment and Lands Court in Bungoma has dismissed a suit by the indigenous Ogiek community in which they sought to be allowed to reside in the Mt Elgon forest. The Ogiek, who live in the Chepkitale area of the forest, had sued the government for evicting them from what they claim as their ancestral land and gazetting it as a national wildlife reserve. The case ran for four years.
The community, through its lawyer Lepad Sianga, claimed the government erred by evicting them from the land , which they had resided on since 1932 after colonialists drove them out of their farms in Trans Nzoia.
Making the ruling in Kanduyi on Wednesday, the three-judge bench led by Environmental and Land Court Judge Boaz Olao said the community should vacate the forest without any compensation as they had already been resettled at the Chepyuk settlement scheme.
He said the Ogiek’s activities in the forest had degraded the forest and endangered the Mt Elgon water catchment tower.
He said wild animals that used to attract tourists in the forest have been wiped out, while others had shifted to the Ugandan side because of human activities in the forest.
Justice Olao said the community, which wants the government to compensate them for loss of property they incurred during the 2018 eviction, had not shown enough evidence to justify it.
"They had not reported any loss of property or life to relevant authorities and the court presumed that the evictions were done in accordance [with] the United Nations standards on eviction,” he said.
Speaking to journalists after the ruling, Prof Nixon Sifuna, representing the Kenya Wildlife Service, said the verdict was a big win for the conservation of the Mt Elgon forest, which he said was on the verge of destruction.
He said that the Ogiek can still practice beekeeping and other agricultural activities outside the forest.
"The Ogieks have not lost in any way since they can always benefit from the forest, without necessarily residing in there,” he said.
He said the community cannot purport to own the land, because most African communities used to live in forests, where their ancestors lived. He argued that the Ogiek can therefore enjoy the benefits of the forest without living in it.
Prof Sifuna said the courts had determined that it was illegal for one to occupy a State forest, and all they can do is enjoy forest benefits like collecting firewood, herbal medicine, fruits and other natural resources between 6am and 6pm.
The Ogiek population in Mt Elgon is about 18,000, while 3,000 still live on their ancestral land in Chepkitale.
