Kenyans Forced Off Tea Highlands By British Colonialists Seek Justice

http://allafrica.com/stories/201705310954.html
Date Written:  2017-05-30
Publisher:  All Africa
Year Published:  2017
Resource Type:  Article
Cx Number:  CX20847

Kericho -- One of hundreds of elderly Kenyans seeking to sue the British government for alleged displacement and torture by its colonial predecessor in 1934 to plant tea on their family land, in a case that could encourage other former colonies to press similar claims.

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"Those on this list died from malaria and sleeping sickness," said Sigilai, a neatly folded piece of paper in his hand naming the dead in his family, including two brothers and a sister.

"They were sent to a valley infested by tsetse flies to die."

Survivors and their descendants hope to win "significant" compensation from Britain's High Court and the return of swathes of land, largely owned by international tea companies, said George Tarus, a legal advisor to the government of Nandi County in Kenya's North Rift region, which is financing the case.

"We became beggars in our own land," Sigilai said, removing a faded baseball cap and putting it on the table by his tea.