Graves a matter of concern in Kericho

Evictee Reuben Sang indicating the spot where he believes his parents were buried in a tea estate in Kericho, which he must get permission to visit. PHOTO | ANITA CHEPKOECH |

What you need to know:

  • About 200,000 acres of the land is under Unilever, James Finlay, George Williamson and Sotik Highlands, among others, in the South Rift alone.  
  • The management of James Finlay did not respond to DN2’s texts and e-mails despite promising to do so regarding the matter.

That the British colonialists evicted many local people from their ancestral lands in the South Rift to make way for tea plantations is well known.

After grabbing the land, the colonialists enacted laws preventing Africans from “trespassing” on their land, which are still strictly observed.

Now, apart from being landless, the evictees, complain that they cannot access to their forefathers’ graves, which fall under the tea estates.

When British lawyer Karim Khan visited victims of colonial injustices a few months ago, he expressed concern about the strict trespass laws. “It is sad and unacceptable that some of the graves of the families of the Kipsigis and Talais are in the tea plantations, yet they don’t have the right to go there without the approval of the estates,” said Mr Khan, who is among those pushing the Kipsigis case in London to seek compensation. Mr Peter Cheruiyot, who lives in a former concentration camp at Chepchabis, is troubled because he has not right over his grandparents “bones”.

“If you asked me to take you to my paternal grandfather’s grave in Chemasingi, I would point out almost the exact spot, right behind Changana factory. My grandmother’s is at the workers camp not far from there,” he says. He once sneaked into the estate and planted an avocado tree on the grandfather’s grave but found out shortly thereafter that it had been slashed.

About 200,000 acres of the land is under Unilever, James Finlay, George Williamson and Sotik Highlands, among others, in the South Rift alone.  

Mr Cheruiyot went to court two decades ago to challenge James Finlay’s ownership of the land but the , but has been protracted thanks to “delaying tactics” in some quarters, adding that his lawyers have also been compromised, and therefore, dropped the case.

Yet the community has, with the help of lawyers, collected irrefutable evidence that they owned the land where the estate now sits. In response to the accusations, Unilever’s Sustainable Business and Corporate Affairs Director, East Africa, Mr Joseph Sunday,  issued a statement saying they had not received any request from persons wishing to visit graves in the Kericho plantations. 

“There are various shrines within the plantations belonging mostly to the Indian community – who are granted access whenever they wish to access the shrines,” he said.

DID NOT RESPOND

The management of James Finlay did not respond to DN2’s texts and e-mails despite promising to do so regarding the matter.

What worries the communities even more is that the leases for the rea estates were renewed for another 99 years seven years ago, following the promulgation of the new constitution in 2010. Mrs Everline Ruto, a women’s representative in the Myoot council of elders, even claims that some human bones had been dug out of the plantations and demanded that they be produced by the perpetrators.

“Nothing would be more fulfilling than returning to the land of my fathers. But it’s not enough if their remains are not shown to us. We want the Britons to produce their bones or they will end up being affected by them,” she said.

Mr Patroba Omollo, the Land Registrar for Kericho and Bomet counties, says the communities quest to reclaim the land is a long shot, thanks to the renewal of leases.

“To acquire the land, there are only two legal options. You can negotiate for an outright purchase on the basis of value for money, or through compulsory acquisition, which is provided for under Lands Act, but only when the land is used for public purposes,” said the registrar.