Strengthening the Ogiek People’s Capacity for Community Land Management

By Maeve E. McDermott, Legal Fellow at International Lawyers Project

Members of the Ogiek Council of Elders and international and local trainers

In late 2025, International Lawyers Project (ILP) partnered with the Ogiek Peoples’ Development Program (OPDP) to deliver a two-day training workshop for members of the Ogiek Council of Elders in Naivasha, Kenya. ILP also conducted a single-day training for OPDP’s staff. These trainings are part of ILP’s ongoing support for the legal empowerment of the Ogiek community, which has included several trainings on legal literacy, negotiation and advocacy skills, and key takeaways from the landmark rulings in the Ogiek case before the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Court).

Led by  Lucy Claridge, ILP’s Executive Director (UK), Advocate Caroline Tegeret, OPDP’s legal officer (Kenya), barristers Natasha Jackson and Margherita Cornaglia from Landmark Chambers (UK), and Advocate Gesumwa Mayieka, a dispute resolution expert consultant (Kenya), the training combined expert presentations, participatory discussions and group exercises on community land management, free, prior and informed consent (FPIC), and the impacts of emerging green initiatives. It also featured a knowledge exchange with representatives from Laikipia County on community land management practices.

A Decade of Resistance: The Ogiek Case Before the African Court

For more than fifteen years, the Ogiek community of Kenya’s Mau Forest has pursued a landmark legal case to protect their ancestral land and affirm their identity as an Indigenous people. Their efforts have resulted in two major rulings by the African Court.

The case began in 2009, when the Ogiek received eviction notices from the Kenya Forest Service, which claimed their ancestral territory was government land. The Ogiek filed a communication with the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, which later referred the matter to the African Court.

In 2017, the African Court issued a judgment on the merits, holding that the Kenyan Government had violated the African Charter of Human and Peoples’ Rights by discriminating against the Ogiek, exploiting their resources and violating their property rights. The Court found that the Kenyan Government’s claims of preserving the Mau Forest did not justify denying the Ogiek their Indigenous status or the rights associated with it.

In 2022, the Court issued a reparations judgment requiring the Kenyan Government to work with the Ogiek to demarcate their land and provide them with formal title. Despite these judgments, the Kenyan Government continues to forcibly displace the Ogiek from their community land, with the latest evictions occurring in the Sasimwani area of Maasai Mau in Narok County, and has not implemented either ruling.

In late 2025, after the training took place, the African Court found that the Kenyan Government had failed to properly initiate the process of identifying, delimiting, and collectively titling Ogiek ancestral lands. Due to this and multiple other breaches of the 2017 and 2022 judgments, the African Court issued its first-ever compliance decision, ordering the Kenyan Government to take immediate steps to pay the amount owed to the Ogiek, to restitute Ogiek land, and to ensure full recognition and effective consultation of Ogiek in the reparations process. Establishing community land management committees and understanding community land rights is essential for the Ogiek’s ongoing fight to protect their territory and way of life.

Strengthening Ogiek Elders’ Understanding of Community Land Management

On the first day of the training, Lucy Claridge presented an overview of the African Court’s 2017 merits judgment and 2022 reparations judgment in the Ogiek case, and discussed the recent African Court compliance hearing, the first time the Court has held a hearing to consider implementation of its rulings. Caroline Tegeret then summarised related litigation in Kenyan courts arising from ongoing violations and government non-compliance.

In the second session, Gesumwa Mayieka introduced Kenya’s Community Land Act of 2016 and highlighted key land policy principles. Participants learned about the role of the Community Land Management Committee, which approves land use plans, by-laws, and major transactions and is elected by the Community Assembly. The Ogiek Elders then engaged in a group exercise to share progress and next steps in registering their community land plans.

The day also included an overview of the Ogiek Community FPIC Protocol, which guides how the Ogiek must be consulted and give consent prior to any activity affecting their land, culture, or rights.

On the second day of the training, Natasha Jackson and Margherita Cornaglia led a session on the impacts of green initiatives on community land management. The trainers examined the carbon market landscape in Kenya, providing an overview of the 2024 Carbon Markets Regulations and highlighting key provisions designed to protect communities. Participants concluded with an interactive discussion on evaluating carbon projects for transparency, accountability, and community safeguards.

The OPDP staff training was led by Lucy Claridge and Caroline Tegeret and included expert presentations on the Ogiek case before the African Court and Ogiek litigation before Kenyan courts, as well as an advocacy mapping exercise and ideas for supporting implementation.

Building Capacity for Lasting Protection

The training strengthened the Ogiek’s understanding of the African Court’s reparation orders, how those remedies should be implemented, and how community land governance and FPIC can safeguard their rights in future engagements.

By combining legal education with community-to-community learning, the programme supported participants’ ability to monitor threats to their land, assess proposed development or conservation projects, and advocate for full compliance with the Court’s rulings. As the Ogiek continue to face evictions and rights violations, these skills will help them defend their territory, hold authorities accountable, and manage their community lands effectively.