In Kapkok, deep in Embobut forest, which forms part of the Cherangani Hills Forest Reserves, is the home of the Sengwer community, also known as the Cherangany, an indigenous community in Kenya. Apart from the Elgeyo Marakwet County, the Sengwer community is also found on the slopes of the Cherangani Hills in Trans Nzoia County.
Like the Ogiek community, their origin lies in Embombut Forest, which has been home to their grandparents for ages. As Sammy Lomuchak, chairperson of the Sengwer Embobut community, says, they have been living in the forest for decades.
“As a community, we have three glade open grounds: Kaptirbai, Koropkwen, and Kapkok. We still have our elders there. All these farms belong to our grandparents,” Lomuchak stated.
Embobut the home for Sengwer
Echoing the sentiments of Lomuchak, Mary Komen, gender officer of the Sengwer Indigenous Community Trust, said the forest is the only land the community knows, terming it their ancestral home.
Sustainable Forest Management and Tree Growing Policy report of 2020 by the county, echoes the 2009 report, Embobut Forest Taskforce Report observed that the Sengwer do not have any other home other than the forest, but cautioned that due to their nature of being polygamous, there is a risk of rapid population growth beyond the carrying capacity of Embobut forest.
The community has on numerous occasions challenged their eviction from the forest by the national government, arguing that Embobut Forest fits the definition of community within the meaning as outlined in the Kenyan Constitution Article 63(2)(d) 2, which defines community land to include ancestral lands and lands traditionally occupied by the hunter-gatherer community.
Until recently, their existence within Embobut Forest has been threatened with eviction orders from the Kenya Forest Services (KFS). According to KFS, this community’s stay in the forest is a threat to water catchment areas in the country, including the Kerio River Basin, which flows to Lake Turkana, and Lake Victoria Basin, supplying water in the larger western region of the country.
The Sengwer community has for ages depended on the forest, with its main activity being beekeeping. Lomuchak highlights that they fully take charge in conserving the forest as its returns are worth every tree standing, from clean water to rain, he says conserving the forest is for their own survival.
“We are versed in indigenous knowledge. We fully understand the benefits of conserving this forest because we get rain, clean water and honey, a very crucial activity of our community since time memorial,” he further said.
Joel Kiptala, the chairman of Kapkok-Sengwer Tree Nursery, says the community has planted over 80,000 seedlings in the forest, and their existence within Embobut is not a threat. Commending the county government of Elegeyo Marakwet for helping them get the nursery land.
“As the Sengwer community, we wish to thank the county government, KFS and the national government for their help in acquiring this seedling farm. We have so far planted over 80,000 seedlings, with our traditional knowledge,” Kiptala said.
Challenges threatening collaboration efforts
Komen called out KFS for disregarding the court order to stop the eviction of the community from the forest. According to her, the unending frustrations and fights are the biggest threat to the forest, as compared to the community residing within.
“KFS should honour the court order in place regarding the case before the court. Respect the order until the issue is resolved. These continuous frustrations from KFS will hugely affect the forest; at the end of the day, they will say the Sengwer community is destroying the Embobut forest, yet they are also contributing to its destruction,” she stated.
Komen says the community has the knowledge to ensure the forest is protected. She called on KFS to respect their traditional knowledge in conserving the forest.
“As a community, we have a unique skill, a traditional way of conserving the forest, but a number of our people have adopted farming practices from other communities, which is a threat. This forest is our ancestral land; we have no other place to go. We have been protecting this forest since the days of our great-grandparents. They should respect us and know that we understand how to protect this forest,” Komen reiterated.
Komen called on KFS to set aside a place for them to preserve their culture, which she says was facing a threat during evictions, stating that preserving their heritage is core to them as an indigenous community.
“We are pleading for our earlier request on a section to rebuild our heritage, and we are still insisting on preserving our culture. As an indigenous community, we take pride in our culture. Since the eviction from the forest, our culture has been under threat,” she added.
Calls for collaborations
The community leaders have called on KFS, the county and the national governments not to interfere with the joint collaborative efforts in conserving the forest. Kiptala is urging that the community solely depends on the forest for their economic activity, calling on all stakeholders to engage in a dialogue to create a road map for working together and ensuring no party is affected.
“We are asking as a community, we need to sit together with the national and county governments, as well as KFS, to create room for dialogue to see how we will conserve Embobut Forest, as we fully depend on this forest,” he urged.
Expressing his exhaustion from fights with KFS, Lomuchak, like Komen, pleaded with KFS to stop harassing the community, calling for a joint meeting to discuss a collaborative pathway to conserve the national treasure.
He further argued that their working relationship will be successful, as the government and other stakeholders come with modernised and technological knowledge, while the community comes with its indigenous knowledge in conserving the forest.
“KFS should stop arresting my people and respect the court order. I would like to plead with the government to see how we can conserve this forest together, because our relationship with KFS has been quite good. We need dialogue together to discuss how we will further protect this forest, because as a community we come with indigenous knowledge while they come with modernised knowledge, and these two could work in everyone’s favour,” Lomuchak added.
Komen, however, called for a lasting solution that saw peace reign in Chepkitale, where the Ogiek live. In 2011, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with community, national and county governments, held a dialogue on the permanent settlement of the Ogiek in the forest.
Komen says the community enjoys peace, with members already rebuilding their lives and ensuring the forest is free from encroachment, with the sole responsibility of conserving the forest, mainly by the community, with the help of both the county and national governments.
“We are also calling on IUCN to hold a similar dialogue to the one in Chepkitale to intervene on behalf of our community, for us to continue co-existing, and we will ensure the forest is protected and reserved. We also want to live in peace. We have seen them building schools, farming and protecting the forest while still living in peace, and their forest is still intact,” Komen added.
As calls for collaboration intensify, Lochamuk called on the county government to help relocate the donkeys and take legal action against those practising agriculture on gazetted land set aside for forestry.
This comes as the report on Sustainable Forest Management and Tree Growing Policy stated that the implementation of the report will see the county government put in place and mainstream the implementation of sustainable land management practices across all land uses on public, private and community land in the county.
As the implementation phase continues, the community has urged the government to collaborate with them to ensure Embobut Forest cover is retained, as they also put in double efforts to help the country achieve 15 billion trees planted by 2030.
