Small Kenyan Tribe Battles Government Over Fate of Forest
10/23/99
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Title: Small Kenyan tribe battles government over fate of forest
Source: Cable News Network, CNN
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: October 23, 1999
Byline: Alphonso Van Marsh
NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- A small rural tribe is taking the
Kenyan government to court over the fate of precious forest land
where tribe members have lived for as long as anyone can remember.
The 5,000-member Ogiek tribe hunts and gathers in the Rift Valley
Tinet Forests, about 120 miles northwest of Nairobi. The Ogiek also
harvest rich honey from forest beehives.
During colonial times, members of the tribe were forced onto smaller
plots as British colonialists settled on the valuable land. The post-
colonial Kenyan government kicked out the British in 1963.
Last spring, the government served an eviction notice on the tribe.
Officials say they plan to protect the forests, but the Ogiek fear
the land will be illegally sold to agricultural developers.
"They will plant tea and make a lot of money in disregard of the
rights of the Ogiek community," says Joseph Sergon, an attorney for
the tribe.
Last month, the tribe won a restraining order against the eviction.
This week, a court is expected to decide whether the forest meets the
constitutional definition of a homeland. That would allow the Ogiek
to stay.
But there's no guarantee of a quick solution. Similar land cases have
been stalled in Kenya's bureaucratic legal system for years. And in
the meantime, the government considers the Ogiek trespassers in their
own home.