Muslim leaders in Uasin Gishu county have faulted the manner in which the government is conducting ongoing evictions of locals illegally occupying part of Mau forest.
According to Uasin Gishu Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya (CIPK) chairman Sheikh Abubakar Bini, the affected families are being subjected to undue suffering.
“As religious leaders from this region, we are not against the Mau evictions but what we are calling is for is that the process is done in a humane manner,” said Bini in Eldoret town, Monday.
“I want to urge the officers involved in the exercise to handle residents as human beings and not as animals without causing pain and injuries to the evictees,” he added.
The Muslim leader further challenged the government to ensure the families are resettled as earlier promised instead of evicting them only to be left in the cold.
He noted that it was wrong for the police to burn houses and destroy the properties of the targeted families. Bini, however, warned local leaders against politicizing the matter.
Fresh evictions of locals from the Mau forest has sparked fresh controversies with politicians allied to the ruling Jubilee party divided over the process.
One group has expressed opposition to the evictions and asked affected locals to stay put while the Jubilee party Secretary General Raphael Tuju was on Sunday quoted insisting that the evictions will go on as planned.
#hivisasaoriginal