The government has started profiling inhabitants of the Mau forest to locate their original homes in the ongoing resettlement, amidst accusations that it was abusing human rights in its effort to rehabilitate the water tower.
The chairman of the Mau Complex Secretariat Hassan Noor Hassan said the evictees would be required to give details of their place of birth to trace their ancestral homes which is where they are expected to relocate to.
“The profiling process is going to be done by Friday and as soon as it is complete we will be able to identify where every person comes from and be able to support him to reach his destination,” he stated adding that the procedure would be coordinated by current Rift Valley Provincial Commissioner.
Asked why the profiling process was not done prior to the eviction, the former Rift Valley Provincial Commissioner said: “We are not late at all. It was supposed to be done at the exit point as people were leaving the forest. How would we have done it with people scattered all over the place?”
He also added that Kenyans should stop accusing the government of being inhumane in its relocation efforts and instead focus on the greater good that the country would get once the plans were fully effected and the restoration plans implemented.
“If anybody is saying that we have not been humanitarian in our eviction plans then they are entitled to their own opinion. We have not moved people using askaris (police) and people moved out voluntarily. They heeded the government's call when the relocation notice was given by Kenya Forest Service and we did not drag anyone out,” he explained.
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