A showdown is looming in Mau Complex after a section of Rift Valley leaders vowed to resist a planned eviction of over 60,000 families by the government from Monday, to conserve the water catchment area.
Kericho Senator Aaron Cheruiyot and Belgut MP Nelson Koech insist residents there are holding genuine titles and accused President Uhuru Kenyatta of reneging on his promise that no one will be evicted from the complex.
“This exercise is illegal, we will not allow the evictions to go on because it is discriminatory to the people,” Cheruiyot said.
The two leaders, who spoke to journalists at a news conference in Nairobi on Sunday, said they will resist any attempt to evict locals, while terming an order by Environment Cabinet Secretary Keriako Tobiko as illegal.
Already Rift Valley County Commissioner George Natembeya has ordered 15 schools in Mau Forest closed, and warned parents against sending their children there on Monday when schools re-open for third term, setting off a major controversy.
But the two leaders who addressed a press conference on Sunday, insist pupils should report to school, while terming the government move as discriminatory and unconstitutional.
“I am telling parents to send their children to school, there is no basis to close schools in Mau at all,” Koech, the Belgut MP said, describing Tobiko as “the biggest enemy President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Big 4 Agenda.”
President Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto have not commented on the matter that is turning out to be the hottest political debate exposing even further the perceived rift between the two top leaders and their supporters in the ruling Jubilee Party.
If the evictions go on as planned from Monday, more than 10,000 school-going children will be affected.
More to follow…
