No way out yet of the complex forest maze

By Kipchumba Kemei

The trouble with the Mau Complex still appears a maze for which there is no way out.

In 2005, the Government evicted about 10,000 families from the forest, but the number has since tripled with no end in sight to the settlement question.

In 2007, when President Kibaki was seeking another term in office, he directed that the evictees go back to their former farms.

That directive is now blamed for hampering efforts to save the forest with donors developing cold feet.

Earlier, the head of the European Union, Ms Elisabeth Babier, who is also the French Ambassador, had indicated that EU was ready to fund the conservation and rehabilitation of the forest.

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Other donors who had shown similar interest include the African Development Bank, the Spanish Government, which has donated about Sh93 million towards a three-year community conservation programme and a handful of others.

"The Mau issue is a sore thumb in the country’ conscience, which should not be wished away or swept under the carpet because of lack of political will," says Narok South MP Nkoidila Lankas.

Management plan

Narok County Council, the custodian of the forest, is yet to formulate a management plan for forests under its jurisdiction, including the Mau, despite overtures from interested groups, including Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), to assist.

KWS Director Julius Kipngetich has said his organisation was willing to assist the council draft the belated, yet urgent, management plan of the greater Maasai Mara Game Reserve and the Mau forest.