Kenya: Security forces move to evict millions of settlers in Mau Forest
Nairobi — The government will start evicting millions of squatters in Mau Forest any time from Wednesday. Hundreds of security officers have been sent to South Western Mau, the first part of the 400,000 hectare forest to be cleared of settlers. The government had given the settlers a deadline of Tuesday to leave peacefully. To show the government’s determination to rehabilitate the Mau, two press conferences announcing the evictions were held in Nairobi and Nakuru, but senior officials were silent on the role of the security officers marshalled in the complex. The government has promised not to use force, as it has done in the past, to clear out the settlers. In Nairobi, Forestry and Wildlife minister Noah Wekesa said they would first evict 16,000 families in South Western Mau, an area of 19,000 hectares (46,930 acres) in a “humane” way. Dr Wekesa declined to give details of how and when it would begin. Asked if the government would use force if the settlers resisted, he said they would be “persuaded” to move. “The encroachers are from various districts and we can’t be sure where they’re going to end up. It’s up to them to state where they want to relocate. A lot of them are good Kenyans and have started moving,” he said. …
