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Ogiek accuse MPs of blackmailing
PM
EA STANDARD
24/08/2008
By Steve Mkawale
Ogiek community has accused some Rift Valley politicians of
attempting to hold Prime Minister Raila Odinga to ransom over the
Mau Forest evictions.
The elders claimed a meeting held last weekend in Kericho, which
the PM attended, was a scheme to arm-twist the Government into
rescinding the decision to evict encroachers.
“We urge the PM not to relent on his decision to evict people from
Mau because the nation’s interests supersedes those of a few,”
said the Ogiek spokesman Daniel Kobei.
But Mr Kobei opposed a proposed move by the Kenya Wildlife Service
to fence off the forest, saying it would deny the Ogiek access to
their resources.
Thirty elders from the community asked President Kibaki to add his
voice to eviction calls.
“The President must come out strongly so that those thinking that
Raila is working in isolation are aware he is not,” said Mr Kilaya
Saaya, the chairman of the Ogiek People Development Programme.
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