The journey to restoring Mau Forest

The government's effort to restore the Mau Forest Complex gained momentum in 2019 as the second eviction exercise was executed.

Mau is the largest mountain forest in the East Africa region and also the largest drainage basin in the country.

Mau Forest is also a water catchment area and a source to numerous rivers including Southern Ewaso Ng'iro, Sondu River, Mara River, and Njoro River. These rivers supply water into Lake Victoria, Lake Nakuru and Lake Natron in Tanzania.

Mau Forest Occupants

The forest was initially occupied by the Ogiek, an indigenous community that also occupies Mt Elgon forest.

The other communities bordering the forest took advantage of the absence of forest conservation in the area, clearing the forest in order to create a clean environment for their homes.

Their presence in the forest led to other human activities in the forest such as logging, leading to deforestation which drastically reduced the forest cover.

The negative effects from deforestation prompted the government to start  mechanisms of restoring the forest to its earlier state.

The exodus from Mau

The government announced that it restored 12,000 hectares of the Maasai Mau forest during the first phase of eviction which was concluded in 2019.

The government had estimated that approximately 7,082 people were evicted from the forest and announced plans to start the second exercise.

Environment and Forestry Cabinet Secretary Keriako Tobiko said the second phase of Mau forest restoration would not be negotiable.

He said that the hard stance from some of the local leaders and occupants was more of politics seeking to halt the restoration process.

The CS said that the orders were from the government and that the State had canceled over 1,200 title deeds that had been issued illegally.

Tobiko also ruled out that the exercise was targeting people from certain tribes.

In August, the government issued 60 days notice to Mau settlers asking them to leave or be forced out.

The announcement caused panic to more than 10,000 families who were still in the area.

Leaders from the Rift Valley region opposed the order, saying that the exercise would cause a negative impact on the residents.

They held a meeting on August 24 in Nakuru which was attended by a section of governors, senators, and MPs who were opposing the move.

The team which was led by Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen expressed disappointment in Environment CS Keriako Tobiko.

“The area earmarked for purported evictions is going to cause a crisis that cannot be managed by anyone, not even the government of Kenya,” Murkomen said.

The Senate Majority Leader lauded the rules issued by Education CS George Magoha, baring strangers from schools as KCSE and KCPE approached.

“Over 1,000 class eight children in the same area are preparing for exams. We will expect that the order given by the Ministry of Education will not only be obeyed by parents but also by the Environment CS,” Murkomen added.

But their demands to meet the Environment CS before the evictions did not bear fruit as Nkoben, Ilmotiok and Ololunga, Enokishomi, Enoosokon, Nkaroni and Sisian remained targeted areas for second evictions.

The need to restore 17,000 acres of land in phase two of Mau evictions gained momentum on September 2 as the government deployed security forces to oversee the process.

The security was also to prevent demonstrations from a section of the residents who had vowed to resist the eviction.

The security team consisted of Kenya Forest Service (KFS), Narok County and Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) rangers and the Kenya Police Service.

Rift Valley Regional Commander George Natembeya had assured occupants that the evictions would be conducted humanely and there would be no destruction of property.

Speaking to The Star on the phone, Natembeya dismissed claims that people to be evicted had no place to go.

He said that a good number of people had moved out voluntarily and that some had homes before moving into the forest.

Natembeya added that leaders who were politicising the eviction process were not genuine.

The forest was declared an operation zone and out of bounds for political gatherings as the government successfully secured the forest from the settlers after a month of the eviction process.

Speaking after the eviction, CS Tobiko said that almost 96 per cent of the illegal settlers had left the forest long before the expiry date of two months that had been issued.

Tobiko said the process was carried out in a humane manner and there was no forcible eviction as it had been said earlier by the politicians from the region.

“The settlers left voluntarily. The exercise was done in a humane and judicious manner and we expect by the end of today to recover the whole of Maasai Mau water tower,” CS Tobiko said.

The government was quick to restore the initial face of the water catchment forest as Tobiko among other leaders led a 10 million tree planting initiative.

During the tree planting exercise, Tobiko said that the government embarked on a major restoration programme, where it was expecting to plant 300,000 tree seedlings manually and aerial seedings of an area covering 3,500 hectares.

“We must secure the land in Maasai Mau Forest and make sure the tree seedlings and aerial seeds planted survive to reclaim and protect the vital ecosystem,” Tobiko said during the tree planting exercise.

He added that, "It has been 30 years of stories after stories on why evictions from Mau cannot be done. The narrative has been crafted to look like an individual’s agenda. Nothing can be further from the truth.”

He said there has been a disconnect between the government and politicians during the first phase of evictions.

During the second phase, about 22,000 acres were recovered. Tobiko said it will take years for the area to be restored.

The Environment CS issued a warning to occupants in the water catchment areas across the country to vacate as the government seeks to protect such areas.

What next after the eviction?

After the successful eviction, the government is planning to fence the water catchment areas.

The exercise which is scheduled to start on January 2020, according to the Rift Valley RC Natembeya, will seek to prevent future encroachment and deforestation.