Kenya: Rangers demolish houses in Mau Forest
Nairobi — Houses left behind by Mau settlers were demolished on Thursday in a clear indication that the government would not allow the evicted squatters to return to the forest. The Kenya Forest Service has also sent more rangers to the South Western Mau to ensure that the families that leave the country’s largest source of water do not return. In Nairobi, Forestry and Wildlife minister Noah Wekesa warned that any settler who attempted to defy government orders to leave the forest would be arrested. He also criticised Rift Valley MPs who have threatened to lead the squatters back to the forest unless the government identifies alternative land for the evicted families within 12 days. “Politicians from the region visit the area daily inciting the people and urging them not to move until the government gives them alternative land,” he said. According to the minister, resettlement should not be used as a condition to move out as there were government procedures for the landless to apply for resettlement. In the Mau, forest rangers descended on the mostly grass-thatch huts after the owners moved to makeshift camps at Kapkembu. …
