This archive report was first published on 25 September 2019.
On July 24, 2018, a crisis meeting was held by members of the Rift Valley legislators caucus at DP William Ruto's Best Weston Hotel, amidst the ongoing Mau forest evictions.
The meeting aimed to calm the raging storms ignited by Senate Majority leader Kipchumba Murkomen's sentiments over Mau Forest evictions and 2022 succession politics, which had threatened to split the Jubilee party into two.
Cherangany MP Joshua Kutuny dismissed Murkomen's initial claim that the meeting was routine, stating that they had convened to address urgent matters.
"We had an urgent meeting to address urgent matters. There have been real raging storms and exchanges among ourselves over the Mau Forest issue. Some of us have not been reacting because we know we are in government and we wanted to get to a consensus over this matter," Kutuny said in an interview with NTV on Tuesday, July 24.
The meeting was attended by Rift Valley leaders, who sought to reach a consensus on the Mau Forest evictions, as both President Uhuru Kenyatta and Ruto were their leaders.
"The two are our party leaders and we convened to know who was evicting the people who voted for them. The eviction was brutal and inhumane but we needed to approach this soberly without severing ties as key components of Jubilee government," Kutuny explained.
He also criticized Murkomen for his recent reference to Uhuru and Opposition leader over the issue of Mau Forest evictions, stating that there needed to be an equilibrium in how they presented issues.
As a result of the meeting, it was agreed that a small team of MPs would engage the Environment, Land and Interior and Devolution ministries to find an amicable solution to the Mau stalemate.
