Kericho County wants UK to pay for colonial-era ills

Kericho governor Paul Chepkwony.

Kericho, Kenya: Kericho county government has begun pursuing the British government to compensate members of the Kipsigis and Talai communities for land they allegedly lost due to forceful acquisition of land for tea plantations in colonial era.

Kericho governor Paul Chepkwony said he had instructed the procurement department to engage a lawyer of international repute to pursue the matter. The move comes after MCAs last week, approved a motion to compel the county’s administration to ask the British Government for compensation.

Speaking to the press at Sunshine Upper Hill Hotel, Chepkwony said the matter was covered in the Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) report and that it is going to be the second case, after one launched by Mau Mau war veterans, of local Kenyans seeking compensation from the British Government.

“It is my sincere hope that our case will also be successful because our people have really suffered in the last 100 years,” he said.

Historical injustice

The governor said experts will be used to carry out evaluations in order to determine how much the compensation should be.

Chepkwony said evaluation will be carried out in land currently owned by multinational tea companies in Kericho County, which include Unilever, Williamson and Finlays amongst others.

He said the county will also be seeking compensation of mesne profits, which are proceeds received by a tenant in wrongful possession of an estate, but are recoverable by the landlord.

The governor said seeking compensation was proper because the Kipsigis and Talai communities had been impoverished, despite being owners of large tracts of land that continue to benefit others.

Last week, 25 members of the county assembly unanimously passed a motion, tabled by Livingstone Kipkoech (Cheptororiet/Seretut) mandating the administration to seek compensation from the British government.

The MCAs said compensation for the unlawful and forceful acquisition of land by the British colonial government in 1918 is something that should have happened a long time ago.

Kipkoech said historical injustice by the British led to displacement of hundreds of families in Chagaik, Cheymen, Chemosit and Mau, among other tea estates in Kericho County.

The MCAs in their contributions, during the much anticipated session, which was presided by Assembly Speaker Japheth Mutai, argued that the compensation issue was an inherent right provided for under Chapter (4) of the Constitution.

They also demanded that Queen Elizabeth II apologise for the wrongs the British government committed against members of the Kipsigis and Talai communities.

Chepseon/ Kedowa ward representative Andrew Laigong said multinational tea companies in the county earn Sh35 billion annually in profits through the sale of tea and should be compelled to set aside at least Sh1 billion to go towards corporate social responsibility programmes in the county’s six constituencies.