[Source: The Standard, by Julius Chepkwony]
More than 1,000 people living in Sururu Settlement Scheme, which is part of the Mau Forest Complex, are living in fear after the Government announced the second phase of eviction.
Yesterday, 1,193 people who sued the Government in 2018, met with lawyers and a surveyor in an effort to determine the boundary between the forest and settlement scheme.
The meeting follows an order by Environment and Lands Court in Nakuru in June 2019 that called for a joint survey between settlers and the Government to determine the boundary between the forest and the settlement scheme.
Sururu settlement scheme borders Enderit Forest block.
Justice Munyao Sila in the order, said the purpose of the survey is to confirm the boundary between the two parcels of land and whether there is any encroachment.
Lawyer Owen Mutai, representing the settlers, said State counsel and his clients will meet after which a report will be made and presented to court.
State lawyer Victor Ondieki accompanied by two surveyors including the head of Survey and Mapping at Kenya Forest Service Evans Aluda, are part of the team in the fact finding mission.
The settlers claim they are the legitimate allotees and absolute proprietors of Sururu Settlement Scheme.
They want the court to issue orders barring the Government from kicking them out of the land.
In their petition, they said the purported eviction is a violation of their constitutional rights as they are legitimate owners of the parcels of land.
They wanted the cut-line determined to know those to be evicted.
This comes even as the Government gave 60,000 families in the Mau 60 days to voluntarily vacate or be evicted.
A 10-member task force has also been appointed to come up with an elaborate plan to ensure the second phase of the eviction is successful.
However, some Rift Valley leaders are rooting for dialogue to avert a humanitarian crisis.
More than 30 leaders from the region, who met in Nakuru County last week, said the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) and the national government have no right to claim the settlers’ land.
Areas targeted in the phase two of the Mau evictions include five ranches.
[Full article: The Standard, by Julius Chepkwony]
