The Okiek (Ogiek: ), sometimes called the Ogiek or Akiek, are a Southern Nilotic ethnic group native to Tanzania and Southern Kenya (in the Mau Forest), and Western Kenya (in the Mount Elgon Forest). In 2019 the ethnic Okiek population was 52,596, although the number of those speaking the Akiek language was as low as 500.

History

In 1903, C.W.Hobley recorded eleven Okiek communities, a hunter-gatherer society, living in western Kenya. He noted that a number of entire sections were bi-lingual, speaking either Maasai, Kipsigis or Nandi in addition to their own languages. Hunter-gatherer communities also lived on the eastern highlands of Kenya where they were known in local traditions by the names "Gumba" and "Athi".

Language

Many Ogiek speakers have shifted to the languages of surrounding peoples: the Akiek in northern Tanzania now speak Maasai and the Akiek of Kinare, Kenya now speak Gikuyu. The Ogiek are one of various groups of hunter-gatherers in Kenya and Tanzania to which the term Dorobo or Ndorobo (a term of Maasai origin now considered derogatory) has been applied.

Land disputes

The Ogiek have made numerous claims against the government of Kenya alleging unfair treatment, especially that they have been illegally dispossessed of their land. Timsales Ltd is active in deforestation in its area for long. It is partly owned by relatives of former presidents Kenyatta and Moi. On June 23, 2022, the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights ruled that the Kenyan government must pay the Okiek 157,850,000 shillings for decades of material and moral damages, recognize their indigeneity and help get them official titles to their ancestral lands.