Emurua-Dikirr MP Johana Ngeno on Wednesday dismissed Deputy President William Ruto for linking him to the burning of houses in the Mau Forest. The MP reminded the Deputy President that it was his constituency (then Eldoret North) were women, children and the elderly were burnt alive in a church where they had gone to seek refuge.
On Tuesday, the DP said the government had not evicted anyone in the water tower and blamed “one MP†for burning the houses in a bid to soil his image in the South Rift. Although Mr Ruto did not say who the MP was, Mr Ngeno said he knew he was being referred to because “I was the only MP who was in the area when the houses were being burntâ€.
The lawmaker called a press conference at Parliament to respond to the comments by the DP during a show on Citizen TV on Tuesday night. He said he had been called by villagers whose houses were being burnt by security officers.
‘WE ALL WISH TO SAVE MAU’
“We all wish to save Mau and we have been working day and night to save it. I visited the area where the houses were being burnt by Kenya Forest officers and APs. We tried to engage them, but they ran away. We wanted to know who had given them orders to burn the houses,†he said.
He accused the DP of making wild allegations meant to taint leaders who were supporting those who had been forcefully evicted.
“The sentiments expressed by the DP were unfortunate in the sense that it should not have come from him. He should not have gone to a TV station and make wild allegations,†he added.
Ngeno claimed the Deputy President is geting ‘petty’ in how he handles political conflicts.
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