The Kitui assembly has said it will not compromise on the charcoal trader ban.
Assembly majority leader Peter Kilonzo and his minority counterpart John Kisangau yesterday said no amount of intimidation or sideshows from any quarters will move them.
The leaders said the Kitui assembly is fully behind Governor Charity Ngilu's move to ban commercial charcoal production and transportation.
They said the assembly will impose more stringent measures to enforce the ban.
The duo spoke separately to the Star on the phone.
The county leaders made the remarks in the wake of what they termed "unwarranted demonstrations" by charcoal dealers in Kiambu county.
They dismissed the protesters as people who had connived to "rape" Kitui forests and leave the county bare and without water.
They said no community is being targetted in the ban.
The bottom line, the county leaders said, is that the ban will protect Kitui forests and prevent the region from turning into a desert.
Kilonzo said Kitui leaders are simply protecting the county resource and should not be intimidated.
He said other communities are free to trade with Kitui on other commodities, except charcoal.
“This [charcoal] issue is about our lives. It is not about creating wealth. We are talking about our lives, which are at stake. They [traders] are talking about their wealth. Desperate times calls for desperate measures,” Kilonzo said.
Kisangau cautioned against politicising the charcoal ban, saying it is a grave matter.
“The trade is destroying our forests. Only one per cent of the forest cover in the entire Kitui county is remaining. It is a sad state of affairs,” he said.
Kisangau defended Ngilu’s ban on charcoal, saying it was per the dictates of the Kitui County Charcoal Management Act, which was passed in 2014.
He said leaders do not want to see lorries ferrying charcoal.
"This issue is not debatable. Even if they brought their demonstrations to Kitui, our position is clear, there will be no charcoal trade in Kitui,” Kisangau said.
He said traders from Kiambu were demonstrating because of the millions they have been making from charcoal trade.
“They have ruined the environment. If this is allowed to continue, Future of generations might lack food, water and trees,” he said.
“This is not about Kikuyus. We are going to defend our environment at any cost,” Kisangau said.