Exercise puts Tobiko in a tricky situation
By People Team, September 5, 2019Environment Cabinet secretary Keriako Tobiko is finding himself between a rock and a hard place on the Mau eviction controversy, with critics accusing him of being partisan.
Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen claims Tobiko cannot be trusted to handle the Mau issue fairly because, according to him, the minister is “conflicted”.
“CS Tobiko, who is conflicted and has no moral authority to evict people against the law. We have asked Kenyans to stay put and our children to go to school like the children of all other Kenyans,” Murkomen posted on his Facebook page.
Majority settlers
The Senate Leader of Majority was alluding to Tobiko’s ethnic background, and that being Maasai, the CS may be motivated by more than just the need to enforce government policy.
The Mau forest saga has split the Kalenjin and the Maasai communities down the middle, with the former, who are a majority of settlers in the forest, opposing the evictions, while the latter is backing the government’s decision to remove unauthorised dwellers.
But the former Director of Public Prosecutions maintains the Mau has nothing to do with ethnic communities or politics but the need to conserve the environment.
“We do not care which tribe you come from or your political affiliation, whether you are Tanga Tanga or Kieleweke. Restoration is now or never,” he recently said while announcing the second phase of evictions.
Politicisation
Politicians allied to Deputy President William Ruto have accused him of carrying out the evictions without the sanctioning of the Jubilee administration. Murkomen has claimed the evictions had neither been approved by the Cabinet not sanctioned by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
“Tobiko should be called out for insubordination and carrying out processes that have not been approved by the government,” Murkomen said in a press conference yesterday.
But Tobiko has accused politicians of delaying the Mau restoration programme by politicising the matter.
“The Mau forest disputes are political and nothing to do with the law being flouted,” Tobiko said. Noah Cheploen and Mercy Mwai