Maasai claim dry port will displace them

The Maasai community is apprehensive that dry port in Mai mahiu  will displace more than 30,000 families.

Families that have been living in Kedong ranch, where the port will be located, want to hold consultations on compensation before the multi-billion shilling project kicks off.

A contractor hired by the state has started fencing part of the land along the Mai Mahiu-Narok road. Furious pastoralists claim it is their ancestral land.

Addressing the press in Suswa town yesterday, the leaders from the community accused the government of failing to involve them in the project and using brokers to compensate select individuals.

Youth leader Paul Koilel said the land, which is part of the vast Kedong ranch, belongs to Maasais.

"Some government officers are working with self-appointed leaders. At stake are hundreds of families, schools, churches and cattle dips, but no one has addressed the issue of compensation,” he said.

Another leader John Maloi backed him. He wondered why the National Land Commission was not involved in the compensation of families which own the land. 

Maloi the community is ready to seek justice at the international court as their rights had been violated by the government.

“We shall oppose the extension of the SGR from this area if the government does not engage the community in terms of resettlement and compensation,” he said.

Another leader Felix Murasim accused their elected leaders of failing to address the issue which was giving families sleepless nights as they face forcible eviction.