Sengwer Community – Lead Organizations

BACKGROUND

 Sengwer Of Embobut CBO(SEECBO) is a grassroots community-based organization that was formed in year 2014 with objectives to address Sengwer indigenous community Land Tenure and human rights, social, cultural, economic, environmental rights through training and education; establishment of resource centers; research, documentation, protection and dissemination of traditional knowledge, laws and histories; all this problems were brought by long historical land injustices during both colonial and post-colonial era.

MILESTONES

1. Offering support to the community members to attend and participate in the land litigations in Eldoret
2. Lobbying for funds to pay lawyers’ fees to represent individual community members who were arrested by KFS and have many of the acquitted charges against them successfully.

• Bringing the women and youth to the struggle. Currently, we have women that have joined the land right struggle and championed for women rights.

1. Development of community By-laws through the help of community elders and members.
2. With help of partners, they managed to develop Sengwer of Embobut Map and zonations to help in effective conservation and sustainable use.
3. With the help of TIMBY, the community have embraced conservation by use of TIMBY app that helps to monitor and document all activities being undertaken in the forest. The most important feature of this tool is that it takes time-stamped and georeferenced reports (photo, video, audio). These reports are then shared with the KFS for action in case of illegal activities and also the reports are being used to monitor community’s efforts in conservation

ACTIVITIES

Due to sustained forceful evictions in Embobut, most activities are centered around the land struggle. The following are some of the current activities we are engaged in:

1. Litigation – Enviroment and land court appeal Kisumu
2. Inquest of late Robert Kirotich murder at Iten law courts

• Community sensitization meetings in order to implement community by-laws

1. Dialogue community forums to bring KFS, Chiefs and forest adjacent communities to help in restoration and conservations of Embobut forest by working together and help reduce the animosity that were created due to misunderstanding between Sengwer and government of Kenya on forest conservation.
2. Women empowerment through making of beads and by doing merry-go-round and well us composing of Sengwer cultural songs.
3. Building of cultural Centre in order to create space to revitalize Sengwer deteriorating culture

• Monitoring and of illegal activities in Embobut forest by use of TIMBY app.
• Bought foodstuffs for needy and vulnerable members of the Community during Covid-19 pandemic.

The CBO is also keen on socio-economic empowerment and some of activities that we have listed for implementation if we get funding are:

1. Branding and sale of honey
2. Bottling and sale of drinking water direct from the source in the pure springs of Embobut

• Sponsorship of children from disadvantaged backgrounds to access education

1. Building of a boarding primary and secondary school to shield the children from effects of perennial evictions

CONTACTS/ HOW TO REACH THEM

Contact person: Elias Kimaiyo

Phone number: 0750222800

Emails seecbo@gmail.com