Leaders resist government's plan to evict Mau settlers

Two governors and a deputy governor have reacted angrily to an ultimatum that the government has issued to Mau settlers.

Governor Isaac Ruto (Bomet), Samuel Tunai (Narok) and Evelyne Aruasa (Narok Deputy Governor) accused the national government of resorting to threats instead of involving all the elected leaders.

Speaking in Ilmotiok AGC Church in Narok County on Sunday, the leaders said they will oppose the eviction order and called on the government to look for a lasting solution to the issue through dialogue.

"The County Commissioner who issued the two week notice is dreaming because the Jubilee government had promised not to inhumanly evict these settlers. We cannot allow people to go to camps as it happened in 2005," said Ruto.

Ruto who is also the Chairman Council of Governors called for comprehensive talks between the national government and the four counties that share the Mau forest.

"The national government should allow these counties to manage the forest because they are the ones who protect it. There is need for proper co-existence between the settlers and the environment," said Ruto.

Aruasa warned the provincial administration against attempts to harass the settlers. She said most of the settlers have their crops in the farms and evicting them will mean that they will incur huge losses.

"Both President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto visited the area and promised residents that they will not be harassed. We want to know on whose orders the county commissioner is acting," said Aruasa.

Aruasa said there is need to have more time for dialogue between the national and county government on that issue adding that any decision should have the voice of elected leaders who traversed the county for vote hunting.