Ogiek Cultural Festival

Reflecting on the 5th Ogiek Cultural Festival

With heartfelt gratitude and a profound sense of shared accomplishment, we pause to reflect upon the recently concluded 5th Ogiek Cultural Festival. This extraordinary event, themed “Ogiek Cultural Linkage with Nature,” served as a lasting testament to Ogiek Peoples’ Development Program (OPDP) resolute commitment to cultural preservation, the cultivation of unity, and the empowerment of […]

United for Land Rights: Ogiek Community celebrates 6th Anniversary of Landmark Ruling by the African Court

United for Land Rights: Ogiek Community celebrates 6th Anniversary of Landmark Ruling by the African Court

Six years ago; May 26th, 2017, the Ogiek community achieved a historic legal victory when the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights recognized their rights to their ancestral lands in Kenya’s Mau Forest Complex. This ruling affirmed their status as Indigenous Peoples[1] and their role as custodians of the Mau ecosystem. On May 26th, […]

Herbalism; the Ogiek art of saving lives and conserving forests

Herbalism; the Ogiek art of saving lives and conserving forests In the last few years, Ogiek Peoples’ Development Program (OPDP), has been spearheading the Ogiek community in culture preservation and development. With support from the Global Environmental Facility Small Grants Program (SGP) OPDP is implementing a biodiversity conservation project: Conserving biodiversity through preserving Ogiek Traditional […]

SECURING INDIGENOUS PEOPLES LAND AND TERRITORIAL RIGHTS IN AFRICA

CBI 5 members during the workshop SECURING INDIGENOUS PEOPLES LAND AND TERRITORIAL RIGHTS IN AFRICA The International Land Coalition (ILC) is a global membership network whose main objective is to attain people-centred land governance through its 10 commitment priority areas of focus known as Commitment Based Initiatives (CBIs). One of these areas of focus is […]

Turning Ogiek youth into competitive Kenyan citizens

Turning Ogiek youth into competitive Kenyan citizens

Many of Ogiek youth are yet to establish careers in either formal or informal sector due to limited access to information and resources. This is despite of being part of generation regarded as crucial to driving the development agenda in Kenya. The present government has prioritized food security, manufacturing, affordable housing and universal health as […]

Ogiek’s inaugural participation in International Museum Day,2019 celebrations

For the first time, members of Ogiek community participated in commemorating this year’s International National Museums Day at the Hyrax Museum Hill in Nakuru, Kenya. The May 17,2019 event, selected 17 Ogiek were given the opportunity to exhibit the cultural artifacts including tools they used for hunting such as kotyek(arrows) and beekeeping namely mwenget(beehive), motoget(honeybag) and gesungut(honeystore).  They were among […]

Ogiek mark 2nd Anniversary of land rights win

On May 26,2019, Ogiek celebrated 2nd Anniversary of their historic win of land rights case against Government of Kenya at the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Court) in Arusha, Tanzania. The ruling made on May 26,2017 pronounced their rights to their ancestral land in Mau and affirmed their indigeneity whose identity should be recognized […]

Protest over killings in Nessuit

The end of July 2020 saw ethnic clashes from Narok County in Olpusmoru spilling over to Nakuru county affecting Mariashoni in Molo sub-county and Nessuit in Njoro sub-county. Lasting for almost a week, these clashes left 12 people dead, over 100 injured and over 200 houses burnt. On 4th August Rift Valley Regional Commissioner, Mr. George […]