The article examines the results of the Commission of Inquiry into the Illegal/Irregular Allocation of Public Land related to the case study of the Mau forest (Rift Valley region). The Commission’s work (2002-05) has brought to light the close link between land and political patronage, illustrating how land allocation has been used by the political, judicial and military élite to pursue their own political and personal interests. The paper aims to reflect on the effects of the Ndung’u Commission Report in the south-western region of the Mau forest; in particular, it analyses the process of “degazettement” that in the period of democratic transition (1991-2002) led to the conversion of large portions of forest into agricultural land.

Africa Commission on Human and Peoples’ Right 2009. Centre for Minority Right Development, Minority Right Group International & Ogiek People Development Programme (on behalf of the Ogiek Community) versus Republic of Kenya. Complainants’ Submissions on Admissibility. [27/02/2019].

http://minorityrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/admissibility-submission-final-pdf-version.pdf.

Africa Court on Human and Peoples’ Right 2017. African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Right v. Republic of Kenya. Application N. 006/2012. Judgment. [27/02/2019].

http://en.african-court.org/images/Cases/Judgment/Application%20006-2012%20-%20African%20Commission%20on%20Human%20and%20Peoples%E2%80%99%20Rights%20v.%20the%20Republic%20of%20Kenya..pdf

Africog 2009. Mission Impossible? Implementing the Ndung’u report. Nairobi: Africog.

Commission of Inquiry into the Illegal/Irregular Allocation of Public Land 2005. Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Illegal/Irregular Allocation of Public Land. Nairobi.

Daily Nation 1998a. “Land row to be sorted out today”. Daily Nation, July 20, 1998.

Daily Nation 1998b. “Meeting held to avert conflict”. Daily Nation, August 21, 1998.

Daily Nation 1999. “Concern over settlement plan”. Daily Nation, January 8, 1999.

Daily Nation 2000. “5,000 invade and settle in forests”. Daily Nation, November 6, 2000.

Di Matteo F. 2017. “Community land in Kenya: policy making, social mobilization, and struggle over legal entitlement”. Working Paper Series 2017. London School of Economics and Political Science 17-185: 1-32. [27/02/2019].

http://www.lse.ac.uk/international-development/Assets/Documents/PDFs/Working-Papers/WP185.pdf

Geist H.J., Lambin E.F. 2001. What Drives Tropical Deforestation?. Louvain-la-Neuve: CIACO.

Hoorweg J. 2000. “The Experience with Land Settlement”. In Kenya Coast Handbook: Culture, resources and development in the East African littoral, edited by Hoorweg J., Foeken D. & Obudho R. A., 309-325. Hamburg: Lit Verlag.

Hornsby C. 2012. Kenya. A History Since Independence. London/New York: I. B. Tauris.

Kimaiyo Towett J. 2004. Ogiek Land Cases and Historical Injustices 1902–2004. Egerton, Nakuru: Ogiek Welfare Council.

Klopp J.M., Sang J.K. 2011. “Maps, Power, and the Destruction of the Mau Forest in Kenya”. Georgetown Journal of International Affairs. Winter/Spring: 125-134. [27/02/2019].

http://www.columbia.edu/~jk2002/publications/KloppS11.pdf

Lukalo F., Odari S. 2016. “Exploring the Status of Settlement Schemes in Kenya”. National Land Commission Working Papers Series 3: 1-34.

Mau Forest Task Force 2009. Report of the Prime Minister’s Task Force on the Conservation of the Mau Forest Complex. Nairobi.

Mbembe A. 2005. Postcolonialismo. Milano: Meltemi.

Moore J.W. 2017. Antropocene o Capitalocene. Verona: ombre corte.

Rugene N., Wafula C. 2009. “Mau list of shame. Raila names and shames top land beneficiaries in key water source”. Daily Nation, July 30, 2009.

Sang J. K. 2001. Kenya. The Ogiek in Mau Forest. [27/02/2019].

http://www.forestpeoples.org/sites/fpp/files/publication/2010/10/kenyaeng.pdf.

Sayagie G., Matara E. 2017. “Ogiek, Maasai leaders reject plan to lift warning on Mau deeds”. Daily Nation, March 13, 2017. [26/02/2019].

https://www.nation.co.ke/news/Ogiek--Maasai-leaders-reject-plan-to-lift-warning-on-Mau-deeds/1056-3847232-ifvlbvz/index.html.

Smith N. 1984. Uneven Development. Nature, Capital and the Production of Space. University of Georgia Press.

Swyngedouw E. 1996. “The city as a hybrid: on nature, society and cyborg urbanization”. Capitalism Nature Socialism 7 (2): 65-80. doi: 10.1080/10455759609358679.

Turco A. 1988. Verso una teoria geografica della complessità. Milano: Unicopli.

UNEP 2008. Mau Complex and Marmanet forests. Environmental and economic contributions. Current state and trends. Nairobi.