Talai community: We are not after land in Homa Bay

From left (seated front) Talai Elders Chairman David Lang’at,  Suba Council of Elders Chairman Ochieng Ounga, Talai Elders patron Nickson Sitienei and Myoot Kipsigis Council of Elders Chairman Richard Ng’eno address journalists at Nyakiamo Stadium in Suba Central Sub-county on October 21, 2024. [James Omoro, Standard]

Talai elders have dismissed claims that their new co-operation with the Suba Council of Elders is aimed at claiming ownership of their land in Homa Bay county.

The Talai community settled in various parts of Suba South and Suba Central sub-counties in 1934 after the colonial government evacuated them from their ancestral land in Kericho county.

The Patron of the Talai elders Nickson Sitienei said that the colonial government sent the Talai community to an equivalent of a jail  in parts of Suba because it was infested with tsetse flies.

Sitienei revealed that the punishment came after the community differed with colonial administration over land issues.

The aim of the colonial government was to have the community die in the area infested by tsetse flies.

The colonial government also wanted to spark ethnic clashes between the Talai and Abasuba to have the minority Talai overwhelmed and killed.

“Ethnic wars were prevalent that time. The colonial government brought us to Suba for the Abasuba and tsetse flies to kill us,” Sitienei said. But the Abasuba community embraced them and gave them land in areas free of tsetse flies.

The Talai community stayed in Suba until 1962 when they left for Kericho.

In a move to trace their roots, the Talai community attended the first Mashujaa Day celebration in newly created Suba Central Sub-county at Nyakiamo Stadium in Sindo Town on Sunday.

During the visit, the Talai elders said they had begun renewing their relationship with the Abasuba to promote socio-economic development between the two communities.

Part of the co-operation will involve environmental conservation by planting indigenous trees for conservation of Rang’wa hills which are highly degraded by deforestation.

Other areas of co-operation include uniting as minority communities to demand their rights from the government.

Sitienei announced that the Talai community does not intend to claim ownership of the land in which they settled in Suba.

“There are people who think we have come here to demand for our land. It is clear in our minds that we were settled in Suba by the colonial government as inmates. Let our people know that a prisoner who has been released cannot claim ownership of the land in which the prison is built. Thus, we are not claiming ownership of any land in Suba but we are claiming ownership of our land in Kericho, which the government should give us,” Sitienei said.

The Talai Elders Vice Chairman Tomno Kapto said their co-operation was also meant to thank the Abasuba community for accommodating their fathers who were condemned to death by the colonial government.

“We thank the Abasuba for being hospitable to our fathers. They did not kill them as the colonial government wanted. Instead, they gave us land in safe areas,” Kapto said.

The Project Co-ordinator of an organisation dealing in environment conservation, Daniel Asher, said they are going to support the elders in planting trees on deforested hills in Suba.

Asher said Rang’wa hills had been identified as one of the worst deforested forests in the area.

“The Talai elders have suggested that there are some indiginours trees in Rift Valley which can do well reviving forest cover on Rang’wa hills. My organisation will support the elders because this will conserve the environment here,” Asher said.

Asher said CUTS International is committed to ensuring that more trees are planted in the areas to avert adversity of climate change.

“Climate change is a serious menace affecting us today. We are also supporting women and youth groups in planting trees,” Asher said.

Abasuba elders led by Sub Council of Elders Chairman Ochieng Ounga and Secretary Joab Ikawa welcomed the Talai elders gesture.

“We welcome our brothers from Talai and this unity will foster socio-economic development. Let our people stop thinking that they want any land in Suba,” Ounga said.

Ikawa said the unity will enhance cohesion between the two communities.“This co-operation will eradicate ethnic barriers which existed between us and the Talai. Let everyone embrace it,” Ikawa said.