State skips Mau residents' case on resettlement

Three senior government officers summoned to update the court on implementation of a judgment concerning settlement schemes in Eastern Mau have failed to honour the directive.

Lands PS Nixon Korir, his Interior counterpart Raymond Omollo and the Director of Land Adjudication and Settlement were expected before the Environment and Land Court in Nakuru to explain progress made in implementing a judgment delivered more than a year ago.

Advocate Kipkoech Ng’etich, appearing for Nessuit MCA Samuel Tonui — who filed the suit on behalf of more than 40,000 settlers in 2020 — confirmed that the summons had been duly served.

While appearing before Justice Loice Komingoi, Ng’etich told the court that the officials were required to submit a detailed report on the implementation of the judgment issued on September 30, 2024. “I have scanned through the platform and do not see any of them. They are known to me. Perhaps their names could be called out to confirm availability or otherwise. We served them and an affidavit of service is on record,” Ng’etich said.

He added that the officers were required to appear in person. Counsel Steve Biko, representing Lipwop Morop Self-Help Group, said the delay was deeply affecting his clients, noting that at least 2,000 residents risk losing access to their land as the planting season approaches.

“The State has continued to give excuses instead of implementing the court decision. There is need for proper coordination and finality in complying with the court orders,” Biko told the court.

State Counsel Fronicah Shirika said her clients were in the final stages of compiling the report and required more time due to the need for coordination across several departments. “I was informed yesterday that the Director of Land Adjudication and Settlement, under the PS Lands, is finalising the report. They requested 14 days to comply with the order and file a comprehensive status report,” Shirika said.

She said she had impressed upon the officials the seriousness of the matter and was assured of compliance within the requested period. Kipkoech and Biko agreed that the State be granted the 14 days it had requested, with a stern warning to take the matter seriously.

Had the government implemented the judgment delivered on September 30, 2024, more than 45,000 residents would by now be secure in their land ownership. Instead, uncertainty continues, extending a wait that has spanned decades.

In the ruling, Environment and Land Court Judge Justice John Mutungi ordered the government to settle residents living in Nessuit, Marioshoni, Sururu, Likia, Sigotik and Teret settlement schemes, covering 35,301 hectares in Eastern Mau.

“The petitioners have established that they were legally settled in the schemes from 1995 and are rightfully in occupation of the land,” Justice Mutungi ruled.

The case was filed by Nessuit MCA Samuel Tonui on behalf of residents through advocates Kipkoech Ng’etich and Renny Langat. They argued that the settlers occupied the land following the lawful excision of 35,301 hectares by then Environment minister Katana Ngala through Legal Notice No. 142 of October 8, 2001.

Residents sought to block government evictions and challenged earlier attempts to degazette the land, including Legal Notice No. 889 of January 30, 2001, issued by then minister Francis Nyenze. They also asked the court to affirm the legality of the 2001 excision.

Justice Mutungi found that the government had indeed created the six settlement schemes to resettle landless Kenyans and victims of the 1992 ethnic clashes. He noted that the government issued a 28-day notice on January 30, 2001, declaring its intention to alter the Eastern Mau boundary before formally excising the land in October the same year.

 “The two notices have never been vacated or overturned, and it is clear that those people living within the specified hectares were validly settled,” the judge ruled.

The court ordered the government, within 12 months, to re-establish boundaries, physically place beacons, verify and authenticate all allottees, and issue title deeds to eligible residents. Titles already issued were declared valid and protected.

However, residents outside the demarcated settlement areas and encroaching on forest land were ordered to vacate, failing which the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) would be at liberty to evict them under the Land Act.

Justice Mutungi also imposed strict environmental conditions, directing landowners to protect riparian reserves and restore tree cover to at least 30 per cent of their land within 60 months. The Interior Ministry, KFS, NEMA and the Water Resources Authority were tasked with overseeing compliance.

“The same government that now wants to evict the settlers is the one that permitted them to live on this land,” the judge observed, warning against creating humanitarian crises under the guise of environmental protection.

The court declined to award compensation, citing lack of evidence that evictions had occurred within the settlement schemes as opposed to forest land.

Despite the clear orders, implementation has stalled. The September 30, 2025 deadline elapsed without meaningful action.