When you talk about evicting 60,000 people , it amounts to a crime against humanity. It falls under forceful eviction of people and it can justify a case at the International Criminal Court.
The manner in which Environment Cabinet Secretary Keriako Tobiko is handling the whole things leaves a lot to be desired .
How can you wake up one morning and announce you want to evict 60, 000 people who have lived there since 1970’s?
This is a very dangerous undertaking that may cause huge problems to the country, unless the government is desirous of having a set of Internally Displaced Persons every year.
The government should first engage the leadership and all other stakeholders. At the moment we do not know who should be evicted and who should not.
It is just a blanket order, a roadside declaration from a serving Cabinet Secretary, the declaration which in itself is a crime. He should not be prosecuting such sensitive matters in public rallies attended by members of his community .
The declaration which to me is politically instigated is causing a lot of anxiety and panic among the residents in that area. What is the hurry for? We stand by the 2015 cutline and without consultations, then the exercise will be chaotic and haphazard.
The 2015 boundary was put by the same Jubilee government and we do not know why government officials want to violate what was agreed upon.
To me , this amounts to incitement of the residents by Tobiko against President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto to achieve other ends.
The government has invested a lot in the area both directly and through Constituency Development Fund, we have schools, hospitals among other facilities. Therefore it doesn't make sense why the government would want to destroy such facilities funded by taxpayers money.
If there are people who have gone beyond the cutline, it is because of the failure by those charged with protecting the forest and therefore they should be asked to move out.
Logging is going on in several forests across the country and Tobiko and his team have turned a blind eye to it begging the question: Is he really genuine in this Mau eviction or playing politics ? The planned eviction should be halted forthwith.
The Kipkelion West MP who is also a member of Environment committee in the NAtional Assembly spoke to the Star.
