Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen has claimed that the land inhabited by settlers in Mau Forest is not under the jurisdiction of the national government and the Kenya Forest Service.
In a joint press conference on Saturday in Nakuru county while flanked by a section of Rift Valley leaders, he DP Ruto-backing legislator contended that the land where the government is keen on evicting settlers, is trust land.
"For 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.
Senator Murkomen's words come amid fears that families living in the Mau Forest will be evicted in an impending security operation.
The Environment Cabinet Secretary Keriako Tobiko has maintained that those in the important water catchment area must vacate or risk forceful eviction.
CS Tobiko held a closed door meeting with security officials at the county commissioner's office reportedly to discuss the second phase of evictions.