South Rift MPs Quit Mau Ad Hoc Committee

Four Members of Parliament from the South Rift region have resigned from the Ad hoc committee on resettlement of the Mau Forest evictees. The MPs, Cabinet Minister Franklin Bett, Sotik's Joyce Laboso, Bomet's Beatrice Kones and Kipkelion's Magerer Lagat resigned on Tuesday after faulting the government for failing to fulfill its promise of resettling the evictees two years after they were evicted from the water catchment area. "Two years down the line and the government is still talking of the same resettlement issue but taking no step. This is not the agreement we entered with the government," stated the legislators. The MPs said that there were five parcels of land identified in parts of Rift Valley but the government had not taken the initiative to do due diligence on the lands and purchase them for the resettlement exercise. "We have lost faith in the whole resettlement process. We are now going back to consult with the evictees on the way forward because the conditions they are living in are inhumane and terrible," said the lawmakers. In April this year, the Ministry of Special Programmes resettled the first batch of Mau forest evictees three years after they were ejected from the country's water tower. The first batch of 240 out of the 3,000 evictees were given settlement at Chemusian Farm, Kipkabus in Eldoret East District. The Minister for Special Progammes Esther Murugi presided over the exercise saying that the government would speed up the countrywide process of settling IDPs and forest evictees. In late July this year, humanitarian organizations led by the Kenya Red Cross expressed concern over the squalid living conditions by the evictees. The eviction campaign was started by the government in a move to save the Mau water catchment area which was facing a threat of drying up due to human exploitation. The Mau evictions have become a hot political campaign tool that saw a big chunk of Rift Valley MPs cut their links with PM Raila Odinga who spearheaded the save Mau campaign. The MPs accused the PM of 'fighting Kalenjins' despite having received support during the 2007 general election. The MPs who have resigned are among the few MPs who are still supporting the PM and his ODM party from the Rift Valley. It now remains to be seen whether their resignation is a statement from them on the next course of action.