The Kenya Wildlife Service is in the eye of a storm following forceful evictions that bordered on infringement of human rights in Lake Kamnarok.
At least 200 residents have been affected by evictions in Cheptigit. Their homes were demolished over alleged encroachment.
KWS claims that residents have encroached on wildlife habitat in the area.
Residents said the exercise that left a trail of destruction shocked them.
An estimated 200 residents are now crying foul and accusing the state agency of forceful eviction.
James Cheboi, 40, could not hide his disappointment as he salvaged the little he could.
“We are the grandchildren of the departed. We had gone for our daily chores only to find our homes flattened,” the bitter father of five said.
Cheboi was still searching for a place to spend the night.
Smoke billowed from Isaiah Cherewo’s house after it was reduced by a fire allegedly lit by KWS officers.
Nothing was spared, reducing him to a beggar. His food went up in smoke.
“They lit a fire and my children scampered for safety,” Cherewo said.
Another victim of the ongoing onslaught by the state agency at Cheptigit, Sylvester Chepkeres, faulted KWS for not issuing notices in advance.
The ongoing evictions have received a round of condemnation from political leaders who say they go against the country's laws.
Kericho Senator Aaron Cheruiyot is among the leaders who condemned the ongoing evictions.
“I do not know of any manual or training that allows you as an officer to take a match box and burn somebody’s house,” he said.
Cheruiyot, a close ally of President William Ruto, said there are better ways of addressing such challenges.
This is not the first time state agencies have been accused of forced evictions.
In 2018, the European Union was compelled to suspend the Water Towers and Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Programme, citing violations of human rights.
The Sh3.6 billion project sought to protect the ground supplies of water, known as water towers, in the Mount Elgon and Cherangani Hills.
The EU accused Kenya Forest Service rangers of the violations.
The Constitution of Kenya 2010 provides in Article 28 that every person has inherent dignity and the right to have that dignity respected and protected.
It also provides for economic and social rights in Article 43 and states that every person has the right to accessible and adequate housing, and to reasonable standards of sanitation.
Internationally, there are several instruments that provide for the right to adequate housing and right to have one’s dignity protected.
The obligation of states to refrain from, and protect against, forced evictions from homes and land arises from several international legal instruments that protect the human right to adequate housing and other related human rights.
These include the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the non-discrimination provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
