Kenya to Evict ‘Settlers’ from Mau Forest

More than 16,000 families will soon be evicted from Kenya’s Mau forest basin following the expiry of a government deadline for them to vacate willingly.

The country’s government has already sent security officers in preparation for the removal of all human settlement from the Mau Forest after the expiry of a 14 day notice this week.

Forestry minister Noah Wekesa has however promised that the settlers will be removed “humanely” without the use of force.

The Mau is East Africa’s largest indigenous montane forest and Kenya’s main water catchment basin.

Government plans to depopulate the forest have been a highly contentious issue, placing Prime Minister Raila Odinga at loggerheads with regional politicians whose interests are threatened by the evictions.

Supported by vocal environmental activists like Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai, Odinga has resolutely insisted that only the evictions would save the endangered water tower from continued human destruction. [CK]