The case related to Kenya’s eviction of the Ogiek, an indigenous minority ethnic group, from the Mau Forest, their ancestral home.
Having found violations of Kenya’s human rights obligations, the Court ordered, in this ruling, for compensation to be paid to the Ogiek community of KES 57.85m in material damages and KES 1m in moral damages, and for restitution of the Ogiek’s ancestral lands.
The Court acknowledged the amicus submission by the Human Rights Implementation Centre and Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria in determining the matter.
“We are delighted with the ruling of the Court and what this means for the Ogiek community,” said Professor Rachel Murray, Director of the Human Rights Implementation Centre.
The amicus submission recommended that different timeframes could be used by the Court to monitor the implementation of the reparations, and that a hearing on implementation should be held, approaches adopted by the Court.
Watch the Ogiek’s response at the African Court after the reading of the judgment.