President Ruto says Mau evictees to be resettled in 2026/27 budget

President William Ruto has assured thousands of families displaced from the Mau Forest that the government will allocate funds in the upcoming national budget to facilitate their resettlement.

The President said the government plans to include the resettlement programme in the 2026/2027 financial year budget so that the affected families can secure places to live.

“We will include this matter in this year’s budget so that by July or August, we can address it and allow everyone to find a place to live,” Ruto announced during the funeral service of the late Emurua Dikirr MP Johana Ngeno.

He revealed that his administration had earlier assisted about 2,000 families who had been living in camps after being evicted from the Mau Forest complex, each receiving Sh300,000 to help them relocate and rebuild their lives.

"Wakati nilikuwa hapa Narok nilisema ya kwamba nikipata nafasi ya kuongoza nchi hii wale watu waliokuwa kwa mahema tutawashughulikia na tuhakikishe kwamba tumewapanga. Wale watu elfu mbili tuliwashughulikia, kila mtu tulipatia Sh300,000 na tukawaondoa kwa mahema na wakaenda kutafuta makao," he said.

(When I was here in Narok, I said that if I got the opportunity to lead this country, we would help the people who were living in tents. We assisted about 2,000 families and gave each Sh300,000 so that they could leave the camps and find places to settle)

However, the President acknowledged that thousands of other families who were also displaced during the evictions had yet to receive assistance.

He said leaders from Narok, including Governor Patrick Ntutu, Defence Cabinet Secretary Soipan Tuiya and the late MP Ngeno had raised concerns that more families had been affected even though they were not living in camps at the time.

“Last year these leaders came to me and told me that although we had helped those in tents, there were others who had also been evicted but were not in camps,” Ruto said.

He said he directed administrators, including the Regional Commissioner and County Commissioner, to compile a list of the affected families, which was later presented to him before the end of last year.

“I was given a list of 12,000 people who also need to be assisted, and I want to assure you that we will address their situation by July or August this year,” he said.

The President said the issue of the Mau evictees was particularly close to the heart of the late MP Ngeno, who had persistently pushed the government to resolve the matter.

“He followed this matter very closely and wanted to ensure these families were assisted,” Ruto said.

The announcement comes just days after a group of evictees marched to the State House in Nairobi to protest delays in their resettlement.

Ruto also addressed another long-running land dispute involving families living on land linked to the late former Nyanza Provincial Commissioner Isaiah Cheluget.

The President said the government had reached an agreement with the Cheluget family to compensate them so that the families currently occupying the land can continue living there.

President William Ruto with Narok Governor Patrick Ntutu during the funeral service for the late Emurua Dikirr MP Johana Ngeno and his four aides in Dikir on March 6, 2026/PCS 

The court ruled in favour of the Cheluget family in a case it filed seeking to evict the occupants.

"As a government, we have agreed to pay the family so that the people living there can remain,” he said.

On the contested Ang’ata Barrikoi land in Kilgoris, which has been a source of conflict between the Kipsigis and Maasai communities, Ruto said the government had allocated funds to purchase the land and resolve the long-standing dispute.

“That issue has now been addressed. The government has allocated money to buy the land so that both communities can have peace,” he said.

The President was speaking during the emotional send-off ceremony for Ngeno and four others who died in a helicopter crash in Nandi County on February 28 while returning from an event in Endebess, Trans Nzoia County.

Hundreds of leaders joined thousands of mourners at the ceremony, including Deputy President Kithure Kindiki and National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang'ula.