Fifty families evicted from part of eastern Mau Forest Complex in Njoro sub-county have urged the high court to revoke an order cancelling their title deeds, saying they were legally settled on the land.
The Mauche Likia Settlement Scheme Welfare Association chairman Clement Kipchirchir told the court that the then minister, Dr Noah Wekesa, had no authority to revoke genuine title deeds issued to them, saying they ought to be compensated for the damage suffered.
The settlers said they moved into the land after its de-gazettement in 2001, but the coalition government revoked their title deeds issued in 1997 by President Moi’s government.
Lawyer Kipkoech Ng’etich said the lapse between issuance of title deeds and de-gazettement was a procedural lapse that should not be allowed to deny the evictees their fundamental rights to land ownership.
But Environment ministry and Kenya Forest Service lawyers contested the claim, saying the evictees were paid Sh400,000 to move out of the forest to allow its rehabilitation.
They said that the title deeds could not stand as when they were allocated land that was not available for allocation to individuals.
State counsel Nancy Atambi said Dr Wekesa acted forthrightly when he revoked the title deeds as he was tasked with implementing a national agenda to protect the water towers.
But Ng’etich denied his clients received any form of compensation in cash or land, saying legal titles to land could not just be wished away without a proper process being put in place to compensate the victims.
He said that as a signatory to universal convention, Kenya must respect it to the letter by ensuring no more evictions are carried out anywhere in the country.
“Even squatters cannot be evicted from a piece of land they do not own until an alternative parcel to relocate them is found,” he said.
Ms Atambi said the evictees were allocated cash, but they declined to receive the money, saying they had valued the land to be worth more than what they were offered.
The ruling will be delivered on April 21.