Villagers want British and Kenyan armies to vacate Samburu training area

Residents of a ranch have given the British and Kenyan military two weeks to vacate the community land the armies use for training in Samburu.

The residents of Losesia Ranch in Samburu East claimed that the British and Kenyan soldiers had been training outside the designated area for more than 40 years without payment or initiating any humanitarian projects in return as stipulated in the Kenya Gazette notice of October 31, 1977 order number 3210.

The angry residents Monday marched through Archer’s Post streets to the administration office, protesting against the encroachment on private land by Kenya Defence Forces soldiers and the British Army Training Unit of Kenya (Batuk) based in Nanyuki.

They claimed that over the years, they have been engaging the armies through their representatives to reach an amicable deal where the community would enter into commercial agreement with Batuk, similar to the case of individual ranchers in Laikipia County.

“Letters have been written, but it appears that the technical officers are the problem,” said Losesia Group Ranch Chairman Alois Leariwala.

READY TO NEGOTIATE WITH INVESTORS

The residents also argued that their ranch was a private entity and the representatives were ready to negotiate with any investor interested in using its resources after formal agreement on commercial rates and not through proxies.

Mr Leariwala claimed that Batuk had expanded its training activities away from the designated area of at least 83,327 acres.

The ranchers also said compensation for land use and people maimed as a result of unexploded devices left by the armies during training must be considered without further delay.

“With all the suffering and exploitation by the armies, no notable projects have been initiated for the community by either the British army or our own army,” added Mr Leariwala.