The ruling Jubilee Party has finally weighed in on the heating Mau Forest eviction debate, stating it's position on the ongoing water catchment preservation operation.
Addressing the press at the party headquarters in Nairobi on Sunday, Jubilee Secretary General Raphael Tuju said that the government is in full support of the initiative.
He dismissed concerns from a section of the party politicians who are pushing for the halt of the evictions, maintaining that their pressures will not derail the initiative.
"If we allow a situation where people make noise and throw political blackmail then we retreat then what stops us from destroying all the remaining forests? We will be left with no forest," said the former Rarieda parliamentarian.
The Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen-led opposing side has further claimed that the operation is political, blaming it on opposition leader Raila Odinga.
They have since questioned the operation, citing the existence of government-funded infrastructure inside the forest.
According to Tuju, however, the same is not a justification for the forest dwellers to retain their settlements, saying that the schools, tea estates and police stations might have to be cleared in the process of the eviction.
"About the structures inside the forest, we might have to clear them in the course of the operation," he added.