AN emotionally charged Speaker of the National Assembly Francis Ole Kaparo yesterday led over 500 demonstrators and declared he was ready to pay with his blood, if the government does not rescind the order to evict Samburus from Rumuruti division of Laikipia district.

And yesterday former President Moi stepped in the eviction row and appealed to his successor President Kibaki to appoint an eminent and impartial person to give the president a factual report on the situation on the ground.

The area has been characterized by heightened tension following a quit order issued eight days ago by Internal Security minister John Michuki to pastoralist communities.

The evictions which started last Sunday and were supervised by District Commissioner Arthur Mugira, involved regular and administration police as well as the Anti-Stock Theft Unit personnel who went round setting ablaze the makeshift structures the herders called home.

The week-long operation has seen hundreds of families spending nights in the cold as the administration officials drove them out of Suguroi, Simba, Mutara, Maundu-ni-Meri, Thome and other areas of Rumuruti division.

And reacting to what he termed inhuman treatment of Kenyans, a tearful Kaparo said he had not taken part in a demonstration before, but was ready to fight to the last drop of his blood, adding that the Samburu could not be dictated by a government or a minister.

Yesterday's demonstrations were ignited by the ongoing pressure to have Samburu leave Rumuruti division and the Saturday incident where a former Army Commander General James Lenges escaped death narrowly after being shot allegedly by police in controversial circumstances.

Eldoret North MP William Ruto, former Samburu West MP and a brother to former army General, Mr Peter Lenges and a Nakuru Lawyer Juma Kiplenge were among those who participated in the demo.

Ruto wondered under which law, a self-respecting government could torch the houses of hundreds of her own citizens and render them homeless. The ODM-K presidential candidate wondered how a government drawing legitimacy from the people who had elected it could put her people under siege and reduce them to second class citizens.

Ruto further demanded how whole communities could be told to move and be turned into refugees in their own country by their own government, terming the eviction move unacceptable.

Said Kaparo: "We are not going to obey the order to leave Laikipia. The order is illegal and the government should be prepared to expand police cells in Laikipia", he said daring the government to arrest the Samburus for defying the eviction order.

Former President Moi called for investigations to unearth the root cause of ongoing bloodletting and general insecurity in parts of Laikipia and Samburu districts adding that the real security problems in the two districts should never be ignored.

Mzee Moi noted that the continual harassment of retired General James Lenges might be perceived as outside the process of maintaining law and order.

Mr Moi who made the remarks through his press secretary Lee Njiru said Gen Lenges was not only retired army commander but also a highly respected community elder. There has been a wave of violence between the Pokots and the Samburus in Laikipia district which has over the past five months claimed 50 lives and left scores of others injured. The herders, estimated to at between 1, 500 and 2,000, had come to Rumuruti to look for pasture due to drought in Baringo, Samburu and West Pokot districts. Many were also fleeing from hostilities in Baringo and the fighting between the Pokot and Samburu which has been going on since last year.

Samburu West MP Simeon Lesrima described the government's forced eviction as strange. "There are over 10,000 people who have bought or leased land from individuals and land buying companies in Laikipia district", he said "These people have title deeds or have lease agreements to show they should be there.

"The government is aware of this the minister is also aware of this. Why then has he gone a head to deploy armed police and other security agents to get rid of these people from Laikipia?. It is unfair, illegal and inhuman. These people are not aliens; they are Kenyans.

He says the situation had been politicised, and that the indiscriminate evictions were politically motivated.