After being in the cold for over five months courtesy of government-sponsored forced evictions and because of broken promises for compensation from the Kenyan President and his deputy, the Maasai community of Narasha is living with uncertainty for the future. According to community leaders, the current actions by KenGen and the committee appointed to look into ways of settling the dispute and compensate those whose houses were razed down by fire in July 2013 leaves a lot to be desired. On its part, the World Bank Kenya country office had called for a meeting in November 2013, but to date the community has not received any feedback on the promises the Bank made to the community of investigating the events that led to the forced evictions in July 2013. KenGen, on the other hand, has now carried a census, an assessment of the loses that the community incurred during the evictions, and has promised compensation but conflicting reports keep on emerging. Shamelessly, some non-community members, KenGen, and government employees who are not Maasai and did not lose anything by virtue of not being residents of Narasha are said to have included themsleves as beneficiaries of the proposed compensation plans.
According to the local community, the people of Narasha lost properties worth Ksh. 82 million ($950,000 USD), over 2,300 people were displaced, 247 homesteads and over 200 sheep burnt. This figure is being contested by KenGen which apparently had initially denied any involvement in the forceful eviction. Ever since the evictions and displacement of the community, neither the government, the World Bank, nor KenGen has supported any emergency action in the community. The only support the community has received so far is that from local friends, churches, and the Red Cross who supplied tents. Recently, Infinity Church, based in Fountain Inn, South Carolina donated blankets to the community to keep the families warm during the cold weather.
The current plans put in place by KenGen to identify alternative land to resettle the community and threats to some Narasha community leaders are clearly indicating that KenGen with support from bilateral donors including the World Bank is committed to ensuring that the Maasai community in Narasha is finally forced out of their ancestral lands to give room for the expansion of geothermal projects in Narasha. The inertia by the presidential committee has also not shown good faith in that the information that the local Maasai community has is censored and therefore not helpful.
The Narasha Maasai community is currently seeking help to file yet another case in court but due to the loses they incurred during the eviction they are seeking pro bono help. For more information contact Ben Koissaba (bkoissaba@gmail.com).
Learn more about our Kenya: Demand the World Bank Compensate the Maasai campaign here.
