On June 28, Pastor Julius Ngayami, a spokesperson for the Ogiek people, appealed to the Kenyan government to stop evicting the Ogiek from their traditional home in the Mu forest. The Kenyan government has evicted more than 100 Ogiek families, many in a mass eviction in February, on the grounds that the forest is an environmentally protected zone. However, the government has exempted three big companies from the logging ban on the forest, and the Ogiek believe they are being evicted in order to enable more private development of the forest area. The Ogiek's primary schools were closed in the 1980s, and since then the Ogiek's illiteracy rate has skyrocketed to 80%. The Ogiek in the forest live a gathering and hunting lifestyle, with some basic agricultural cultivation, and Ngayami told the government that their lifestyle was environmentally friendly, and not, as claimed, responsible for damage to water catchments in the Narook district. To help, visit <http://www.ogiek.org>.
From Green Left Weekly, July 13, 2005.
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