Members of the Ogiek community in Mau/FILEThe government should conduct a fresh verification of the Ogiek community register to identify members who have not benefited from any resettlement programme, the National Land Commission has directed.
In a determination dated March 15, 2024, the outgoing NLC commissioners instructed the Ministries of Lands and Interior to scrutinise the existing register and separate those who have already been allocated land from those who remain unserved.
The Lands ministry has also been tasked with identifying suitable land for resettling all verified Ogiek members who have never benefited from a settlement scheme.
“The Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development… shall identify appropriate land(s) to resettle the Ogiek community who have not benefited in any settlement scheme,” the determination states.
The hearing panel comprised Commissioners Prof James Tuitoek, Esther Murugi, Tiyah Galgalo and Hubbie Al-Haji.
The commission’s six-year term for most members, including that of chairperson Gershom Otachi and vice chairperson Gertrude Nduku, expired on November 14.
Only Galgalo and Murugi now remain, each with one year to go.
NLC adopted a comprehensive list of 25,019 Ogiek members from the Mau Forest Complex—a register that excludes Ogiek living in Mt Elgon and Elgeyo Marakwet counties.
The commission further urged the Kenya Forest Service to consider granting community user rights for medicinal extraction, beekeeping and religious activities within the Mau Forest, in line with the Forest Conservation and Management Act, 2016.
NLC is constitutionally mandated to investigate historical land injustices.
Between 2017 and 2021, the commission received multiple claims from Ogiek clans alleging forceful eviction from ancestral lands, including the 2009 removals from the Mau Forest.
Parallel cases have also been pursued in Kenyan courts, Parliament and before the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
In 2017, the African Court ruled in favour of the Ogiek, finding that the Kenyan government had violated their land rights.
The state was ordered to compensate the community with over Sh157 million and to identify, demarcate and title their ancestral land in consultation with the community.
