Deputy President William Ruto has been challenged to end his silence on the Mau Forest evictions, a day after the government announced success in the exercise.
Through Environment Cabinet Secretary Keriako Tobiko, the government on Friday said that the process of rehabilitating the Sierra Leone part of the forest by planting trees has begun.
But Gem MP Elisha Odhiambo wants the DP to speak on the matter, given that he has kept his silence amid complaints from politicians from his Rift Valley backyard.
Speaking in Kunya, Rarieda on Saturday, the ODM lawmaker further urged President Uhuru Kenyatta not to relent in the push to preserve the major water catchment zones.
"The situation in Mau is desperate. The government must get everyone out of the forest and Uhuru must not listen to calls by some leaders from Rift Valley who are opposed to evictions," Odhiambo said as quoted by Daily Nation.
The MP also urged the government to ignore the politicians opposed to the exercise and carry on.
Under the leadership of Kericho governor Paul Chepkwony, the group on Thursday threatened to take legal action against the government for evicting people from their land.
However, the government says that the evictees had encroached into forest land, and will not be compensated, though some had title deeds and allotment letters as a show of ownership.