NEWS 2008
The Ogiek: forgotten victims of Kenya's election violence
Minority Rights Group International
54 Commercial Street
London E1 6LT, UK
3 June 2008
The Ogiek – Kenya’s largest forest-dwelling hunter-gatherer community – were
badly affected by the violence which engulfed Kenya earlier this year. And they
continue to suffer.
Images by Ishbel Matheson
On January 29th, 11 Ogiek houses in the hills above Nakuru in the Rift Valley
were burnt to the ground. The family, who lived here, reported being attacked by
a Kikuyu mob. Their attackers were accompanied by armed Kikuyu police officers,
who were shooting to chase the Ogiek away.
Livingstone Ngiria holds up a bullet casing found in the ashes of his house.
When the Ogiek went to police headquarters in Nakuru to complain about the
police action, they were told, "Everyone is complaining about police harassment,
what is so special about you?"
Livingstone sleeps in this makeshift shelter, made of twigs and branches. He is
anxious that the violence may not yet be over. He is regularly woken at night by
the sound of gunfire. He has sent his family away to live with relatives.
All this land used to be forest – the Ogiek's traditional territory. But
rapacious logging and illegal land seizures mean many Ogiek have had to abandon
their hunter-gather lifestyle, and turn to farming. Ogiek activist Daniel Kobei
(on the left) says, "You can be alive, but sick". He is fighting for official
recognition of the Ogiek.
The Ogiek say the attacks on their property were in revenge for the attacks on
the Kikuyu further north in the Rift Valley. The Ogiek supported the opposition
ODM, whilst the Kikuyus backed President Kibaki's PNU during Kenya's hotly
contested election campaign.
Francis Chege holds up the blood-stained shirt of his 34 year old son. He says
his son, Kennedy, was seized by police on January 29th, before the mob torched
the family’s house. Kennedy was beaten badly, before being arrested on charges
of murder. His family claim he is innocent, but they can't afford a lawyer to
defend them.
Kennedy's wife Milika has given birth to her sixth child, since her husband's
arrest. She is staying with her in-laws. Ogiek traditions mean that they help
each other out in times of hardship. But the Ogiek feel their plight has been
overlooked. Kenyans who were housed in IDP camps (mostly Kikuyus) have had food
and tents donated to them. The Ogiek received nothing.
Inside this shed was one family's stores of maize and beans, as well as
household goods. The family estimate they lost property worth £3,000 (approx 3
million Ksh) – a large portion of their annual income. Although the government
is considering compensation for Kenyans in IDP camps, the Ogiek fear they will
once again be forgotten.
Dorcas Chamutay has only just started to send her children back to school. But
four-year-old Sammy (closest to the camera) has to go to a different nursery now.
Their Kikuyu neighbours – with whom they previously got on well – have blocked
off the path, and refused to allow Ogiek children in. No-one knows when – or if
– things will get back to normal.
For more information, read MRG’s
Kenya’s
Castaways: The Ogiek and National Development Processes by Nyang’ori
Ohenjo.
Minority Rights Group International
54 Commercial Street
London E1 6LT, UK
E-mail: minority.rights@mrgmail.org
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7422 4200
Fax: +44 (0)20 7422 4201
http://www.minorityrights.org/