Lead image for Ruto delivers Sh2.6bn payout for Mau evictees.
The government has released Sh2.6 billion compensation to families evicted from south-west Mau Forest in Narok county.
A caveat on private farmlands around Mau forest - both in Nakuru, Narok, Kericho and Bomet counties has also been lifted by the Ministry of Lands.
In a broader move to resolve land ownership conflicts, the government has bought 5,800-acre land at Kaplelach area in Narok South to resettle families who forcibly took over, sub-divided and settled on the property belonging to former Provincial Commissioner the late Isaiah Cheluget.
President William Ruto announced on Wednesday that each of the 13,000 families will be given Sh200,000 as compensation by the government. The money was released on Wednesday to the beneficiaries.
A total of 28,000 families had registered with the government as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the area following the eviction by security agencies leading to an electric fence being erected around the affected sections of the forest.
The fate of 15,000 of the families who have been locked out as a result of a verification process that was done by administrators and the ministry of Lands before the final list was compiled is now in limbo.
"Each of the 13,000 families will be given Sh200,000 by the government as compensation as we close the years of suffering for the Mau evictees," Dr Ruto said.
Dr Ruto said another 2,000 families who were living in IDP camps had earlier been compensated by the government with their case having been dire.