Emurrua Dikirr MP Johanna Ngeno was on Tuesday arrested for allegedly inciting locals and leading protests over the looming Mau forest eviction.
The lawmaker was in the company of his Chepalungu counterpart Gideon Koske and over 15 MCAs, who were on their way to visit the affected families but the security officers had barricaded the leading to the area.
The government is targeting over 60, 000 families in the second Mau eviction.
According to reports, a contingent of officers from the Kenya Wildlife Services has been dispatched in the area ahead of the exercise.
Hundreds of families are reported to have already left the forest.
Recently Environment Cabinet Secretary Keriako Tobiko gave a nod to the second eviction saying the government is committed in restoring the water tower.
Read: Oscar Sudi Takes A Swipe At Uhuru, Urges Him To Donate Family Land To Mau Victims (Video)
Rift Valley Regional Commissioner George Natembeya last week said the government is ready for the eviction and gave the settlers a 60-day window period to voluntarily move out by October 31.
Some leaders from the Rift Valley region are, however, opposed to the directive.
Led by Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen and Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi, the leaders have urged the government to shelve the plan saying thousands of candidates who are preparing to sit for their final exams will suffer.
The leaders castigated Tobiko saying the planned eviction is illegal.
“There will be no eviction from Masai Mau Trust Land until President Uhuru Kenyatta speaks. CS Tobiko who is conflicted 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 children of all other Kenyans!” Murkomen wrote on Twitter on Monday.
There will be no eviction from Masai Mau Trust Land until President Uhuru Kenyatta speaks. CS Tobiko who is conflicted 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 children of all other Kenyans!
— KIPCHUMBA MURKOMEN, E.G.H (@kipmurkomen) September 2, 2019
“Stop damaging the lives of the poor because you’re not going to contest. Children in Mau are like those in your house. If you want to chase them, you have over 50,000 Ha. Give them around 7,000 because after all the land is not yours,” Sudi said.
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