The minority Ogiek community has renewed its calls to the State to give them priority when it begins issuing new generation tamper proof title deeds in the country.
The community hailed the move saying it is a step in the right direction towards addressing historical injustices in the country.
Speaking to journalists in Nakuru, the Ogiek community chairman Joseph Bett said that they have stayed in the forests for a long time yet they have never had the right to own any piece of land.
Bett said that if the government goes ahead and issues them with the new title deeds, then the issue of land ownership amongst themselves will be greatly solved.
He added that the Ogiek community is a forest dwelling-group and their traditions do not allow them to destroy the forests but to preserve it so that their livelihoods can continue.
He also said that the community now has a population of 33,000 people, excluding those that have started encroaching the Mau forest with the hope of also benefiting from the government’s exercise of issuing of the title deeds.