[Source: Daily Nation, by Francis Mureithi]
Women from Ogiek Kurbanyat community whose families were evicted from Mau Forest in Kuresoi South, Nakuru County, have appealed to the government to speed up their resettlement programme.
Led by their spokesperson Ms Sandra Chebet, they said they have suffered for many years. They blamed past regimes for failing to resolve the land issue.
“Most of the young girls from the Ogiek community whose parents were forcibly evicted from the Mau Forest now have children. We have no schools in the area where our children can learn,” Ms Chebet told Nation in Nakuru on Saturday.
he added: “Girls from Ogiek community are now roaming in urban centres like Nakuru, Eldoret, Narok and Kericho in search of food for their children and parents.”
She claimed that some girls from the community have lost their lives in unclear circumstances while others had been jailed for engaging in crime.
The women and their children protested the delay in resettling them after being evicted from Mau Forest.
Ms Pauline Chepkorir said Ogiek women, who had land where they planted crops to feed their families, now work as farm hands at Kiptagich Tea Factory.
[Full article: Daily Nation, by Francis Mureithi]
