Forest rangers prepare to relocate Mau Forest settlers in Kenya. (Photo Courtesy George Sayagie)

Those urging fellow Kenyans to divorce the Mau debate from politics are missing the point: The Mau saga is a product of pure politics.

Defined as the authoritative allocation of resources, politics was applied by successive post-independence governments to parcel up the Mau forest to the regimes' blue-eyed boys and girls.

Now that the issue has reached boiling point, politicians are exploiting it to their advantage. Prime Minister Raila Odinga, has put his foot down and challenged those opposed to the preservation of the Mau to go hang, not necessarily because he loves Kenya, but because this position makes excellent political sense.

Kenyans are more likely to stand with a leader who appears ready to put his political career on the line for the sake of the country. And one can bet that were elections to be called today, Raila would storm State House with a landslide.

On the other hand, the brigade led by Agriculture minister William Ruto, are not political buffoons. Ruto calculates that for him to make political sense at the national level past 2012, he must find every excuse, to get out of his party leader's shadow and stand on his own.

After all, he is well-aware that he is not next in the line of succession as the Orange party's torch-bearer - Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi is.

Mau presents a perfect opportunity for the Eldoret North MP to bolt from ODM early and create his own fiefdom, from where he can cut power deals with other ethnic chieftains as we approach 2012.

The mooted KKK alliance between him, Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka follows this logic. But aware that another Kalenjin presidency so soon after Moi's is not tenable, Ruto seems focused, not on 2012, but on 2017.

Ruto's Mau style of politics is most interesting because while he is not a beneficiary of the land allocations, he is the emblem of 'the Mau rebellion'.

It is easy to see why. Besides the rain-drenched women and children now camping on road-sides after being tossed out of the forest, Mau is certainly the factor gluing the Kalenjin elite together.

Almost every who-is-who in Kalenjin land is a beneficiary of the illegal excision of the Mau. Besides, most of these allocations were carried out during Moi's regime. This means that attempts by the government to repossess the land are not only an assault on the individual beneficiaries, but on the former president and the Kalenjin community at large.

By positioning himself as the emblem of the Mau rebellion, Ruto is affirming, and defending, his position as the dominant Kalenjin voice after Moi.

As Rift Valley is concerned, Ruto is likely to reap handsomely because he is killing two birds with one stone - appealing to the hearts of the common mwananchi in the region, and winning the admiration of the elite for standing up for them at a time when they risk losing their massive investments.

Beyond the Kalenjin Rift Valley, though, the Mau evictions prank is as hard a sell as pork in Saudi Arabia. That explains the it's-time-for-the-youth politics by team Ruto in a bid to rationalise their anti-Raila campaign.

Importantly, the Mau storm is somehow a déjà vu. In 2007, the Kalenjin community voted overwhelmingly for Raila, not because they loved him, but because it was their only way of hitting back at President Kibaki's government for daring to tackle graft through the much-hyped radical surgery when he first came to power in 2003.

This crusade, between 2003 and 2005 saw many top Kalenjin public servants go home and others dragged to court. The community felt targeted, hence its collective reaction at the ballot box.

Thanks to Mau, were elections to be held today, Raila would definitely lose the Kalenjin vote to the Ruto side because the saga has galvanised the community again the Prime Minister.

However, Ruto must be aware that the Kalenjin vote can benefit him only if he is a presidential candidate. Much as they know another of their own can hardly make it to State House, it is unlikely the Kalenjin will follow Ruto to a political camp where he is playing second fiddle.

Away from the cynical politicking, however, Mau and the other water towers must be saved and preserved by all means. The emphasis must be Mau and the other water towers because by preoccupying the nation's attention with Mau alone, we risk forgetting the equally important Mt Kenya, the Aberdares, Mt Elgon and Cherangany water complexes, which are equally endangered.

Besides, the government needs to walk the talk in its national reforestation campaign if we are to check our fixation with only a few water towers. Every part of this country has the potential of producing a water tower.

To achieve this feat, right thinking Kenyans, especially youth, must rally behind leaders with an agenda that illuminates the way to a better tomorrow.