On August 9, 2025, the Ogiek community of Mt. Elgon joined other Indigenous Peoples in marking the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. This year’s event was held at Laboot, Chepkitale where the community was joined by invited guests from the government.
Around the world, Indigenous peoples use the day to raise awareness about their culture, traditions and challenges, as they celebrate their contributions towards environmental conservation. The Ogiek community of Mt. Elgon used the opportunity to promote and advocate for their rights and encourage collaboration with the Government and other stakeholders.
The community showcased traditional food systems, hand crafts, artifacts, traditional fire lighting and honey production skills, with a call to the youth to embrace the traditional knowledge through practical learning from the elders. The Youth were encouraged to have a traditional knowledge learning forum towards the end of the year, where knowledge holders will freely interact with the youth.
Cosmas Murunga, the chairman of the Chepkitale Ogiek governing council (COGC) – a local community structure that coordinates conservation activities, reminded the community that to be indigenous, you must preserve culture and indigenous knowledge irrespective of your education, religion and other external social effects. He called for more efforts to practice and pass the traditional knowledge and practices to the next generation.
Speaking on behalf of women, Mrs. Janet Chemtai, encouraged the transmission of indigenous knowledge through songs, storytelling, food preparation and basket making and called for a regular session where the youth practically learn from the elders.
The Chairman Council of Elders, Mr. Johnson Takur, praised the day, as important because the community showcase their traditional culture with the clarion call to “conserve.”
“Let’s continue to preserve our culture and guide our children to respect what elders advise.”
He further gave examples of how the community lived in harmony among themselves and with nature.
“When you harvest honey from someone’s beehive, you put some grass on the beehive, and you don’t carry honey away with you.”
This was the norm which some youths have gone against, as they steal and break beehives, instead of making their own.
The community considered trees sacred, and when they cut for local use, they put grass on it, and spit on the tree. They considered the tree as a living, and they said a prayer so that the tree does not pass harm to the people.
Martin Maru, the Director of the Chepkitale Indigenous People Development Project (CIPDP), showed how the organization is supporting community efforts towards land rights, education, health and communitybased biodiversity monitoring. He encouraged on the call to promote continuous transmission of indigenous knowledge in food systems, cultural practices, conservation of biodiversity and indigenous governance.
In reference to the theme “Indigenous peoples and AI: Defending rights, shaping futures, Mr. Simotwo, called for positive use of AI to protect rights of Indigenous people. He further reiterated the need to have policies that ensure application of AI is not misused to abuse rights and expose human rights defenders.
Several guests who spoke during the event encouraged the local community to continue conserving biodiversity and ensure Chepkitale is “plastic free zone.”
In the beginning of the event, Rev. Stanley Taboi, a clergy and leader from the community, called on the locals to follow the community leadership and work closely with the government, so that they harvest plenty of milk, honey and live in peace amongst themselves.
This event was organized by the Transformative Pathways project and the Ogiek Council of Elders, with support from The Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer protection, through the International Climate Initiative, IKI.
