The Kenyan government has reported to the African Court that financial constraints and political reshuffles have stalled its compliance to implement the Ogiek Court ruling.

During a historic compliance hearing before the African Court in Arusha, the Court heard detailed submissions from both the Kenyan government and the legal team representing the Ogiek community.

This follows the 2017 and the 2022 judgements, which found Kenya in violation of the Ogiek’s rights to land, culture, and natural resources.

 “We have a problem with financial constraints. This has a bearing on realising full implementation of the judgements before this Court," the government's legal representative said.

The government's legal representatives also cited political interference and reshuffles within key ministries, saying that it has stalled the process.

"As a country, we have had several reshuffles, and specific ministries are key in this implementation journey, and this has an impact on realising full implementation," the legal representative added.

While the government claimed it had taken certain steps towards implementation and cited challenges, the Ogiek legal representatives argued that there has been zero implementation to date.

“The Ogiek community was rejuvenated by today's compliance hearing based on the arguments presented by the applicants’ lawyers and very clear questions by African Court judges. It culminated in the assurance that the Ogiek judgement is alive and needs a clear roadmap for implementation by the respondent state, Kenya,” said Daniel Kobei, the director for the Ogiek Peoples’ Development Program.

In 2017 and 2022, the African Court affirmed the Ogiek’s ownership of their ancestral lands and directed the Kenyan government to return Ogiek lands.

But in September 2024, the Environment and Land Court in Nakuru dismissed the Ogiek’s claims to their ancestral lands in East Mau, contradicting the African Court decisions.

To implement the 2024 Nakuru Court ruling, the government went ahead to start a demarcation process in Eastern Mau, which kicked off on 25 April.

The Ogiek said the demarcation threatens the rights of more than 8,500 Ogiek people in Nessuit, Mariashoni, and Sururu.

Samuel Ade Ndasi, African Union Litigation and Advocacy Officer at Minority Rights Group, said that the hearing is not just another step in Ogiek’s long struggle but also a defining moment.

“This marks a milestone in advancing indigenous peoples' rights jurisprudence across Africa. This was the first-ever full implementation hearing at the court,” he said.

The Court is now expected to rule at the end of June on whether Kenya has complied with its orders and may issue further directives, including interim measures to prevent ongoing harm and a demand for a detailed implementation roadmap.

On the other hand, United Nations experts have called on the Kenyan government to immediately halt demarcation of boundaries in the Mau Forest Complex, noting that the exercise violates Ogiek rights and African Court judgements.

The experts said that the ongoing land demarcation in the Eastern Mau Complex threatens the ancestral lands of the Ogiek Peoples and contravenes binding judgements of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

“These actions risk causing irreparable harm to the Ogiek’s land rights, which have been unequivocally upheld by the African Court,” Albert K. Barume, Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, said in a statement.

 “I urge the Government of Kenya to immediately cease all activities that undermine the Ogiek’s rights and to fully comply with the Court’s rulings,” he added.