President William Ruto has assured thousands of families displaced from the Mau Forest that the government will set aside funds in the upcoming national budget to support their resettlement, saying the programme will be captured in the 2026/2027 financial year so affected households can secure places to live.
Speaking during the funeral service of the late Emurua Dikirr MP Johana Ngeno, the President said the government intends to address the issue once the new budget cycle begins, expressing confidence that the remaining evictees will receive help by the middle of the year.
“We will include this matter in this year’s budget so that by July or August, we can address it and allow everyone to find a place to live,” Ruto announced.
The President recalled that the government had earlier supported families who were living in camps after being evicted from the Mau Forest complex.
According to him, about 2,000 families received financial support to enable them move out of the camps and begin rebuilding their lives.
“Wakati nilikuwa hapa Narok nilisema ya kwamba nikipata nafasi ya kuongoza nchi hii wale watu waliokuwa kwa mahema tutawashughulikia na tuhakikishe kwamba tumewapanga. Wale watu elfu mbili tuliwashughulikia, kila mtu tulipatia Sh300,000 na tukawaondoa kwa mahema na wakaenda kutafuta makao,” he said.
(When I was here in Narok, I said that if I got the opportunity to lead this country, we would help the people who were living in tents. We assisted about 2,000 families and gave each Sh300,000 so that they could leave the camps and find places to settle)
However, the President said many other families who were displaced during the evictions had not yet received support because they were not living in camps at the time the first assistance programme was carried out.
He said leaders from Narok, including Governor Patrick Ntutu, Defence Cabinet Secretary Soipan Tuiya and the late MP Ngeno, later brought the matter to his attention and explained that other affected families had been left out.
“Last year these leaders came to me and told me that although we had helped those in tents, there were others who had also been evicted but were not in camps,” Ruto said.
Following the concerns raised by the leaders, the President said he instructed government administrators, including the Regional Commissioner and the County Commissioner, to prepare a full list of families that still required assistance.
According to Ruto, the list was compiled and presented to him before the end of last year.
“I was given a list of 12,000 people who also need to be assisted, and I want to assure you that we will address their situation by July or August this year,” he said.
Ruto said the issue of resettling families displaced from the Mau Forest had remained a major concern for the late MP Ngeno, noting that the legislator consistently pushed for a lasting solution.
“He followed this matter very closely and wanted to ensure these families were assisted,” Ruto said.
The announcement comes just days after a group of evictees marched to State House in Nairobi to protest delays in the resettlement process and demand government intervention.
During the same address, the President also spoke about another long-standing land dispute involving families living on land associated with the late former Nyanza Provincial Commissioner Isaiah Cheluget.
Ruto said the government had reached an agreement with the Cheluget family to compensate them so that the people currently occupying the land can continue living there.
The dispute had previously been determined in court, with a ruling that supported the Cheluget family’s claim in a case seeking the eviction of the residents.
“As a government, we have agreed to pay the family so that the people living there can remain,” he said.
The President also addressed the contested Ang’ata Barrikoi land in Kilgoris, which has for years been a source of tension between the Kipsigis and Maasai communities.
He said the government had already set aside funds to purchase the land as part of efforts to resolve the dispute and promote peace between the two communities.
“That issue has now been addressed. The government has allocated money to buy the land so that both communities can have peace,” he said.
Ruto was speaking during the emotional funeral ceremony for Ngeno and four others who died in a helicopter crash in Nandi County on February 28 while returning from an event in Endebess, Trans Nzoia County.
Hundreds of leaders joined thousands of mourners at the ceremony, including Deputy President Kithure Kindiki and National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula.
