Don’t pay Mau forest farmers, says Ntimama
 
National Heritage minister William ole Ntimama says the title deeds issued to Mau Forest settlers were “illegal”.

By  BERNARD NAMUNANE
In Summary

1) Ntimama says MPs pushing for compensation engaging the Government in political blackmail.
2) People who have settled in the forest given 90 days to leave and a committee formed to address eviction-related issues.
3) Loggers and charcoal burners will also be denied access to the forest.
4) 8,000 Ogiek community members living in East Mau Forest have asked the Government to spare them from eviction.

Farmers evicted from the Mau Forest should not be compensated, National Heritage minister William ole Ntimama has said.

According to him, the MPs pushing for compensation were only engaging the Government in political blackmail, bullying and arm-twisting.

“The people who settled in the Mau Forest should not be paid a single cent,” he said.

The Mau Forest is an important water catchment area and the source of numerous rivers that feed Lake Nakuru and Lake Victoria.

It is also the source of rivers that sustain wildlife in the Maasai Mara.

On Sunday, Mr Ntimama described the title deeds that occupants of the forests have produced to lay claim to the land as “fraudulent and illegal”.

“The Government must not give in to people who have resorted to political blackmail, bullying and arm-twisting in an issue that is the lifeline of my people. Why should the Government compensate lawlessness, fraud and blackmail?” the minister asked.

He was responding to demands by Rift Valley MPs that farmers who acquired land in the water-catchment area should be paid before they can move out of the forest by October as agreed during a key meeting chaired by Prime Minister Raila Odinga early this month.

Chepalungu MP Isaac Ruto, speaking on behalf of his colleagues from the Rift Valley, says people should be compensated before they are ejected from the Mau.

“Let us address the issue of compensation without any witch-hunt and we will succeed,” the MP had said.

The Government has given people who have settled in the forest 90 days to leave and a committee has been formed to address issues relating to their eviction. Mr Odinga has been holding meetings with the affected sides to resolve the crisis after some rivers started drying up.

However, Mr Ntimama, in whose constituency three quarters of the forest lies, described the victims as invaders who were fraudulently given title deeds.

Now, he wants them evicted without compensation just like the squatters who had invaded Mt Kenya Forest, the Aberdares and Kakamega Forest were kicked out without any reparation.

“The Government must not have double standards because we have seen people being removed from forests without payment in the past. The people in Mau do not own the land. Therefore, they cannot be compensated,” he said.

Mr Ntimama, who is the Narok North MP, said loggers and charcoal burners will also be denied access to the forest.

Meanwhile, the more than 8,000 Ogiek community members living in East Mau Forest have asked the Government to spare them from eviction because they are “the indigenous residents of the forest”.

Their leaders said since time immemorial, the Ogiek, also known as the Ndorobo, have lived in forests without destroying them.

Community spokesman Geoffrey Gito said the Ogieks should not be regarded as squatters.

“This is our home; our ancestors lived here and if we are kicked out of the forest, we have nowhere else to go,” Mr Gito said.

Additional report by Wanjiru Macharia

Courtesy of:http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/443438/-/view/printVersion/-/m45uh2z/-/index.html