Kenya begins audit of Mau eviction compensation recipients — Nation Kenya
Kenya has begun reviewing the recipients of compensation for families evicted from the Mau Forest Complex in Narok County. According to Nation Kenya, 15,000 families say they were not included in the 2.6 billion Kenyan shilling payout programme. In total, the government registered 28,000 families, but 13,000 of them received compensation.
Complaints over the amount and distribution of payments
Each of the 13,000 families received 200,000 Kenyan shillings. Those affected consider this amount insufficient to buy another plot of land and build housing. Previously, 2,000 families living in two internally displaced persons camps in Narok South received 300,000 shillings each; their temporary shelters were then dismantled.
Some evicted families state that under the administrations of former presidents Mwai Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta, those affected were paid 450,000 shillings each and allocated between one and a half and two and a half acres of land for resettlement. Evictions from areas around Mau were carried out to protect the forest from illegal settlement, which, according to the publication, threatened rivers and streams that originate there.
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Verification of lists and police investigation
Lawyers and representatives of evicted families are demanding that the lists of compensation recipients be verified. They claim that some of the funds may have been received by people who did not belong to the local community, while registered affected people were left without payments. These claims represent the position of the families’ representatives.
Narok Governor Patrick Ole Ntutu said the audit and verification should establish whether payments were received by people who were not entitled to them. He also assured that the national government is considering appeals from Narok South residents who said they had been excluded from the programme.
Meanwhile, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations questioned six people in a case concerning the alleged incitement of families to take unlawful actions. According to DCI summonses, the investigation concerns possible incitement to violence, assault, arson, and deliberate damage to public property. Narok County Commissioner Kipkech Lotiatia urged families to submit petitions through official channels and said authorities would not allow attempts to settle in protected forest areas.
