Narok residents evicted from Maasai Mau forest will be resettled by the government, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has said.
The over 6,500 internally displaced persons (IDPs) are said to be living in poor conditions since the exercise in July 2019 that saw most of them losing homes and property worth millions of shillings.
Speaking during the launch of the 18km (kilometre) Bokoiyot-Marinwak-Kipkurkuret-Sogoo-Tengecha road and 6km Tumoyot-Menet in Sogoo ward in Narok South sub-county on Tuesday, Gachagua asked evictees to be patient as the State moves with speed to sort it out.
He said the State was aware of their plight, stressing that the evictions were not conducted in a humane manner.
The DP who was accompanied by Narok Governor Patrick Ole Ntutu, Deputy Governor Tamalinye Koech, MPs Kitilai ole Ntutu (Narok South), Gabriel Tongoyo (Narok West), Rebecca Tonkei (Narok Women Representative), Ken Aramat (Narok East) and a number of Members of the Narok County Assembly, said President William Ruto's administration had set aside a resettlement budget for all the affected families.
"We have not forgotten you as the IDPs from Mau and next week, we want a committee of ten people formed, and through the MP for Narok East who is also the Parliamentary Chair for Administration and Security Committee to come to my office so that we finalise the matter," said the DP.
Gachagua directed the Narok South Deputy County Commissioner Felix Kisalu to send him the list of 6,500 households (IDPs) so that they can be supplied with food as they await their issues to be sorted.
On Azimio demonstrations, he said they would be tough on people whose mission is to shed blood and destroy people's properties.
Access power
He added they will not accept any antics by opposition leader Raila Odinga to blackmail them for the purposes of a handshake as he allegedly has been doing after every election with every regime.
The DP said Raila has always been instilling fear in every regime so that he can access power through the back door. "We cannot buy his fears as Daniel Arap Moi, Mwai Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta's administrations did to him because he sold fears to them but to us, we are busy building our nation and economy," he said.
He reiterated that they will not accept a handshake and urged Narok leadership to ensure roads under their jurisdiction are improved.
The DP said tarmacking of Mulot-Sogoo road which had stalled will now resume after the contractor was paid Sh150 million.
Governor Ntutu said the opening up of feeder roads will enable farmers to take their produce to market in time. He stated that the county is doing 1,145kms of roads to the tune of Sh726 million.
