Locals move to court to stop eviction from Kedong ranch (Nakuru County)

Members of the Maasai community living at the controversial Kedong ranch in Naivasha have moved to court seeking to stop their eviction.

The over 30,000 members have filed a petition at the Environment and Land Court in Nakuru seeking orders declaring them as genuine occupants of the land.

Through lawyers Thomas Letangule and Prof Tom Ojienda, the residents of the land have sued Kedong Ranch Ltd, the Kenya Railways Corporation, the National Land Commission (NLC) and the Attorney-General.

In the case filed through a certificate of urgency, the petitioners want the court to restrain the Kedong ranch from selling, disposing or dealing with the land in a manner that will be detrimental to their occupation.

The petitioners claim the land is their ancestral home where they were born and raised as well as graze their animals.

They say they developed land by building permanent houses, schools, churches and other social amenities.

The court heard that the community is apprehensive that they could be evicted from the land following the recent developments including the construction of the standard gauge railway (SGR) as well as the inland dry port.

According to the petitioners, the government projects have seen some of the members evicted without proper consultations regarding their stay.

During the building of the SGR, the NLC is accused of compensating some of the residents while side-lining others

The petitioners complained that the government had fenced off part of the land that they occupied with the intention of building a dry port.

Justice Dalmas Ohungo directed them to serve their petition to the respondents before the matter is heard on November 20.