NEWS 2009
Mail changing - November 10 and 11, 2009
VERY URGENT: OGIEK CASE !
From: Korir Sing'Oei
Subject: VERY URGENT: OGIEK CASE
To: Daniel Kobei
Date: Tuesday, November 10, 2009, 7:39 AM
Dear Kobei,
I am attending the African Commission session now going on in the Gambia. In view of the Ogiek situation and the work we have done together in the past, and after pleading with the African Commission to issue an urgent Petition to the President & Prime Minister on the impending eviction of the Ogiek, I am asking that we move forward and file a formal communication against the Kenyan government on behalf of the Ogiek. The communication will be filed jointly by CEMIRIDE and OPDP. If you are agreeable with this, I will move forward with the filing and brief you on the way forward once I return to Nairobi.
I need your urgent response on the matter. Please also, let me have your telephone number in case we may need to discuss more on phone before I return. Do also send me any more documentation in your possession on the matter. Additionally, if Cheruiyot has it, he could send me a soft version of the Mau task force report.
Keep well.
Korir Sing'Oei
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Date: Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:06:10 -0800
From: Daniel Kobei
Subject: Re: VERY URGENT: OGIEK CASE
To: Korir Sing'Oei
CC: Joseph Sang
Dear Singoei,
Thank you for your concern. Go ahead and let the African Commission make a petition to the
PM and HE the President Kibaki on the urgent matter of Planned Eviction in Our ancestral land, in Mau forest
Complex.
On the issue of filling a case with African Commission, i will get you feedback of Ogiek leaders meeting to be held
soon. I will make it agenda of the meeting. Before then, i wish you educate me on African Commission mechanism so that i will be able to articulate to Ogiek leaders in a more understandable
manner. Details about my contacts are below.
Safe trip to Gambia
Kobei
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From: Korir Sing'Oei
Subject: RE: VERY URGENT: OGIEK CASE
To: Daniel Kobei , Cheruiyot Kiplangat
Cc: Joseph Sang
Date: Tuesday, 10 November, 2009, 20:10
Thank you Daniel. The Ogiek case will go through the same process as the Endorois case has. The procedure of the Communication process is as per the attached
sheet.
Please come back to me with instructions on the matter before Thursday this week so that I can move forward and file the
case. This will be a very important step in ensuring that any negotiation with the Kenyan government is conducted through a more coherent and transparent legal
framework.
Best
Korir Sing'Oei
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Date: Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:18:14 +0000
From: Joseph Sang
Subject: RE: VERY URGENT: OGIEK CASE
To: Korir Sing'Oei , Daniel Kobei , Cheruiyot Kiplangat
CC: ...
Hi Korir and Kobei
Thanks for your concerns Korir. We have been contemplating on how best the Ogiek precarious situation can be amicably solved considering the fact that the Ogiek
groups/sections found in Mau have diffrent backround which require diffrent approaches and
solutions. It is also worth to note that it is necessary to have a "standard" kind of solution bearing in mind that whatever solution arrived at shall also apply to all other sections of the Ogiek, even beyond Mau.
Based on several personal encounter with some members of the Interim Coordinating Secretariat (ICS) on the implementation of the Task Force Report, the Ogiek are to be spared having been considered that they are in their ancestral
homes. The only remaining challenge for the Team is how to identify bona fide members of the Ogiek people. Empirical evidence so far indicates that Ogiek population is by far less than what we have been advocating
for.
However good the intention the ICS might be having, which its mandate is much of the
coordination, the government is still in-charge of implemetation of the recommendations through line
ministries. Considering however that the AG might enter a nolle prosequi in all cases related to Mau, to make sure the work of the ICS is not
jeopardized, then I can say the Ogek situation is gloomy. This is because there are no agreed terms
(with the Ogiek) on:
On my view, it could have been a diffrent view altogether if ICS commiited itself by entering into a written agreement on the above with Ogiek. We are currently planning a joint meeting with
OPDP, which is only limited to Eastern Mau, targetting ALL Ogiek leaders in this forest bloc including the 22 applicants of the Ogiek suit to deliberate on the
same.
I must conclude by encouraging you to proceed with filing of the Petition with the African Commission so long as it boosts our position both inside and outside the courts
(Assuming that the AG does not terminate the cases as it is being planned now).
Meanwhile I and Kobei shall be consolidating efforts aimed at coming up with a unified solution that can also apply to other Ogiek, using the East Mau as a
prototype.
What are your comments !
Sang J.K
IPRA Program
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From: Korir Sing'Oei
Subject: RE: VERY URGENT: OGIEK CASE
To: Joseph Sang , Daniel Kobei , Cheruiyot Kiplangat
Cc: ...
Date: Wednesday, 11 November, 2009, 9:30
Sang,
Thank you for your insightful analysis of the situation and options open to the community. I totally agree with you and will now move forward with the legal process at the African Commission.
I shall brief you all upon my return in Nairobi.
Korir Sing'Oei