- The court ruled that the rights of the Ogiek People had been violated contrary to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
- The Ogiek community is among the indigenous peoples of Kenya, alongside the Sengwer, Yaaku Waata, Sanya and Endorois.
Image: ANDREW KASUKU
Commission on Administrative Justice has called out the government for failing to honour a 2017 court ruling in favour of the Ogiek community.
CAJ chairperson Florence Kajuju regretted that the community was subjected to brutal evictions from their only known habitat on the justification of protecting forests from human encroachment.
"It is documented that the community has coexisted with the forest ecosystem from time immemorial," she said.
The court ruled that the rights of the Ogiek People had been violated contrary to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
The judgment concerned the right of the Mau Ogiek to have what little is left of their ancestral lands in the forested Mau Escarpment recognised as their property.
The Ogiek community is among the indigenous peoples of Kenya, alongside the Sengwer, Yaaku Waata, Sanya and Endorois.
Their estimated population with reference to the (2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census report is 52,000 and they mainly inhabit the Mau Forest Complex and the Mt Elgon Forest.
Evictions led the Ogiek to pursue justice both domestically and regionally at the human rights system of the African Union.
In November 2009, the Ogiek of the Mau Forest filed a complaint against the Government of Kenya at the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights which was escalated to African Court on Human and People’s Rights in 2012.
Addressing the press at a Nairobi hotel on Wednesday, Kajuju noted that the African Court found that there had been a persistent violation of Ogiek land rights, violation of their rights to religious and cultural practices as well as their rights to livelihood.
"In June 2022, the African Court delivered a reparations judgment that enumerated steps that the Government of Kenya must take to compensate the Ogiek of Mau Forest for human rights violations suffered," she said.
She added that the rule of law and respect for human rights are key indicators of good governance.
She regretted that the government has not laid out a clear programme on how to implement the judgment delivered at the African Court in favour of the Ogiek people.
" It behooves us, as the various institutions of government with relevant mandate on this issue, to chart the way forward on implementation of the judgment for enhanced rule of law, protection of human rights and good governance," she said.
The Executive Director of Ogiek People Development Programme Daniel Kobei said his organisation has been championing the rights of the Ogiek community for 20 years with little success, save for the court rulings.
"In the early 1990s, the government committed to resettling the Ogiek community but it has never happened," he said.
He challenged the new administration to live up to its promise of respecting the rule of law and obeying court decisions.