Former Kuresoi South MP Zakayo Cheruiyot has weighed in on the looming eviction of people allegedly settling on Mau Forest.
The former legislator claimed that if the eviction would be necessary, then the process should be done in a way that will see all families not left to suffer.
“We support the initiatives to conserve the environment, but we cannot hide our heads in the sand and assume all is well. People must be guaranteed the right to shelter and food. Our people have a right to earn their own food,” Cheruiyot said as quoted by Nation.
The eviction that might see over 60,000 families rendered homeless have been castigated by leaders especially from Rift Valley who have claimed that the people are occupying the land legally.
Elgeiyo Marakwet Senator who was among the leaders who attended a meeting in Nakuru to inquire on the eviction noted that the land being occupied there is not a government land and the state should not threaten them.
"For the avoidance of doubt, the Kenya Forest Service and the national government have no jurisdiction on the area that our people are living because it is trust land that is managed by the county governments and now they have been threatened
"They have been threatened before despite the fact that government reports and government documents make it clear that these people are not living in any government forest," the Senator said.
However, Environment Cabinet Secretary Keriako Tobiko has maintained that the mentioned lands should be vacated.