Deputy President William Ruto has always avoided the Mau forest politics which led to a politically tensed environment in the Rift Valley region late last year.
This is after the government evicted hundreds of residents who were said to have settled in the land illegally.
But speaking during the burial of senior chief Samuel Korieta in Narok South constituency in Narok county on Saturday, the DP urged politicians from the Rift Valley region to stop politicizing the issue and maintained that the government would not relent until all those who have crossed the cutline and settled illegally in the forest are evicted.
"Let's stop politics of conservation, let's come together as leaders and seek solutions and not create problems out of it. The exercise is not targeting any specific community but is for the good of the country. Let’s come together as leaders and discuss the best ways to resolve this and as I said last year, I want all those who have gone beyond the registered cutlines to move out immediately,” DP Ruto said as quoted by the Daily Nation.
During the event which was attended by leaders mostly from Maa community led by Narok governor Samuel Tunai, his Kajiado counterpart Joseph Kajiado Ole Lenku, Senator Ledama Olekina among other legislators the politics on the Mau forest and recent evictions which had sparked tribal skirmishes late last year took the centre stage.
Olekina remained firm on his stand and there were calls for Kericho governor Prof. Paul Chepkwony to withdraw his court case which sought to stop the evictions at the Mau forest.
The Mau forest evictions affected Bomet, Kericho and Narok counties but led to the division of opinions within the Rift Valley residents and political leaders.