Embobut

Embobut[1] (Embobit, Embotut) is one of the administrative wards for the Marakwet East Constituency in Elgeyo-Marakwet County. The area is one of the major water towers (catchment basins) in the Cherangani Hills. This area collectively with other water towers supply Eldoret town and its environs with water, it also supplies water to the Kerio River which flows through the Cheploch Gorge in Baringo to Lake Turkana via the Turkwel Gorge. The Embobut Forest is the largest in the Cherangani Hills Forest,[2] but it is, however, under threat because of illegal squatters.[3] who have destroyed the natural habitat and the forest ecosystem thus causing streams in the area to dry. The government has however moved in to protect the water tower by evicting thousands of people form the area.[4]

Whereas there is the general believe by outsiders that there exists "illegal squaters", the truth of the matter is that the entire population inhabiting Embobut call the forest home. The colonial policy of allocating all lands and forests to the crown notwithstanding the native inhabitants and subsequent adoption of the dame policies by the new republic has let to continued fight for the land b/w the government and the locals. The locals believe that clearing the forest will render the forest acts useless. There is need to recognize the natives and quantify the environmental loss and effects retrogressive policies on the local populace in terms of education, infrastructure and health.

Personages

Some of the most prominent personalities in the former Marakwet District come from the Embobut region; they include former politicians, such as Robert Kiptoo Kipkorir, and the first Female MP from Marakwet community Linah Jebii Kilimo. Timothy Kilimo, first student to sit for KCPE exam in an open makeshift due to forest eviction and make it to Alliance High School, later a college in the USA. Also a candidate for County Rep for Embobut Ward in 2013 election.

Notes

  1. ↑ Embobut Sub-Location (Approved) at GEOnet Names Server, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
  2. ↑ UNDP Secretariat (12 November 2009). "FSP – Strengthening the Protected Area Network within the Eastern Montane Forest Hotspot of Kenya" (PDF). The GEF Trust Fund. p. 33. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 July 2010.
  3. ↑ There are an estimated 5,000 squatters in the Embobut Forest.UNDP 2010, p. 18
  4. ↑ UNDP 2010, p. 95

5. Resident

Coordinates: 01°13′N 35°38′E / 1.217°N 35.633°E / 1.217; 35.633


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