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Kenya: Turkanas in Isiolo Seek Back Land Taken By KDF, Game Reserves

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4 years ago

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Members of the Turkana community living in Ngaremara Ward, Isiolo County have appealed to the government to help them recover more than 40,000 hectares of land they say is theirs and which is occupied by the military and several reserves.

The community leaders and residents, while presenting six historical land injustices complaints to the National Land Commission, lamented that the illegal occupation of their land had subjected them to a lot of suffering and threatened pastoralism which is their main source of livelihood.

They complained that Buffalo Springs and Sarova Shaba National Reserves and two Kenya Defence Forces camps, namely School of Combat Engineering and School of Artillery, illegally acquired a huge part of their land between 1974 and 1985, leaving them with smaller portions inadequate to accommodate the growing population.

Led by MCA Ekwam Teru and County Water Executive Josphine Eregai, the residents said the establishment of the facilities had subjected them to a lot of risk from the explosives used by the soldiers during trainings and exacerbated human-wildlife conflicts resulting to loss of lives.

Ms Eregai said the community had donated part of the land to the military but the facilities took more land, displacing thousands of families and leaving them with nowhere to graze their animals.

“Some of the schools, dispensaries and watering points have been enclosed in the camps and our people cannot access the services,” she complained.