Mau Forest was used to deny me votes in 2013, Raila says
Opposition leader Raila Odinga addresses journalists outside Parliament on May 5, 2016. PHOTO | ANTHONY OMUYA | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Speaking at a burial ceremony in Narok, Mr Odinga said his opponents used the controversial Mau Forest issue to fight him politically when he was the prime minister in the Grand Coalition government.
- In an apparent reference to Mr Ruto, Mr Odinga said his rivals turned the conservation of the largest water tower in East Africa into a political scheme to deny him the Kalenjin vote.
Cord leader Raila Odinga on Tuesday claimed he lost the Rift Valley vote in the 2013 General Election largely because of an argument that he engineered the eviction of settlers in the Mau Forest.
Speaking at a burial ceremony in Narok, Mr Odinga said his opponents used the controversial Mau Forest issue to fight him politically when he was the prime minister in the Grand Coalition government.
In October 2010, then Eldoret North MP William Ruto accused Mr Odinga of delaying the resettlement of Mau forest evictees, saying the ODM leader wanted to use it as election bait.
On Tuesday, in an apparent reference to Mr Ruto, Mr Odinga said his rivals turned the conservation of the largest water tower in East Africa into a political scheme to deny him the Kalenjin vote.
“You accused me of Mau Forest evictions (when I was prime minister). So why are evictions still being carried out today?” he posed to mourners at the burial of Mrs Zipporah Lemein, wife of former Narok first post-independence senator, Philip Lemein, at Motonyi near Narok Town.
“Am I the one carrying out the evictions?” asked Mr Odinga.
While thanking the Maasai community for standing with him in the rehabilitation of the Mau Forest, the Cord leader said Mau Forest should be conserved at all costs as millions of people depend on it.
Mr Odinga was accompanied by Suna East MP Junet Mohammed and his Kitutu Masaba counterpart Timothy Bosire.
“I was fought hard because of my stand to implement the government’s decision to conserve all the water towers in the country.
"That propaganda made me to lose some votes from the Rift-Valley. I had vowed that even if it meant not getting votes in this region Mau should be rehabilitated,” said Mr Odinga.
“It was sad that the conservation of the forest were orchestrated by those who later became my main opponents and started moving around the country saying that I was responsible for the evictions of the people,” he said.
He said the massive destruction of the Mau Forest has led to frequent flooding in Narok Town.
