Forest rangers with a cache of arms after arriving in South Western Mau where a 14-day notice for thousands of settlers to quit ended on Tuesday. Although the government has maintained that no force will be used to evict the settlers, there was palpable tension among the locals as they watched the trucks arrive. Photo / GEORGE SAYAGIE

By Mark Agutu and George Sayagie
11 November 2009 Nairobi — The flow of illegal settlers out of Mau Forest started on Wednesday, a day after the government deployed security officers ready to evict them. The settlers, frightened by the show of force and a history of brutal evictions, appealed to the government to give them alternative land even as they packed their belongings, ready to leave. Though there was panic in some of the villages, a full scale migration had not started. However, some settlers were already moving out. At Chematich and Tiriyta villages deep in Ndoinet forest, one of the areas targeted in the first phase of the evictions, farmers were packing up and moving away. After weeks of dithering in the hope that the government’s resolve would crumble, the arrival of armed rangers in their villages seemed to have finally persuaded some villagers that there was little to be gained by staying on. About 300 officers, the first batch of an eviction force, were deployed in the area on Monday and pitched two camps at Kapkembu and Saina in South-western Mau. The officers maintained that their job was to provide security and that they would only kick out those who were reluctant to move. … On Tuesday, Wildlife minister Noah Wekesa said the first phase of the eviction targets 16,000 families on 19,000 hectares. The Kenya Forestry Service says the families have no documents and no right to be in the forest. …

Kenya:  Mau Settlers Troop Out as Forest Force Arrives