Once I get into my uncle’s house suspicious men hover around

Suleiman Wangila, a university student, has since 2016 been fighting to regain ownership of a house he acquired from his grandmother Julia Awino.

His grandmother occupied the house since 1983 before she relocated to Kisumu.

After Saturday Standard highlighted his plight in December 2016, Wangila was arrested in January 2017 under unclear circumstance after he was tricked into meeting county officials at Nakuru Menengai social hall in the pretext they were going to address the matter.

“I went to the meeting in the company of my uncle and neighbours but to my utter shock police ambushed us and arrested me before the meeting kicked off. The police did not disclose why I was being arrested neither did they show any warrant of arrest,” he said.

His lawyer Njenga Mwaniki said the arrest was suspect as Wangila was later charged with stealing a mobile phone and Sh7,000 from a complainant who was never produced.

“It appears he was framed because the officers showed up few minutes to the scheduled meeting. It must have been a ploy to disrupt the meeting and confuse the parties involved. The cartel seems to be using police to intimidate their targets,” said Mwaniki.

After the collapse of the case Wangila was released but was shocked to find the house had already been given to another tenant. “I found a new tenant in the house and my belongings had been taken away. The tenant demanded that I give him Sh150,000 which he had incurred in buying the house and the renovations,” said Wangila.

Evaluate the cost

Nakuru Town East Sub County administrator Zachariah Njeru appointed a committee to evaluate the cost incurred in renovations after which the family would agree on terms of payment and the house handed back to Ms Awino.

“We will work together with the tenants association and the Housing department to resolve all these cases before the end of this month. After paying back the renovation costs the house will be given back to the family,” Mr Njeru said in January last year.

When reached on phone this week, he said they were still working on the case. “There is a committee still looking into the matter and we shall get Wangila his house back. There are many other cases I am working on,” said Njeru.

More than a year later the matter is yet to be resolved and Wangila was forced to move to another house after he received threats of arrest and intimidation from people whom he claims are well connected with the county officials.

“Whenever I come to Nakuru I spend not more than five hours. Once I get into my uncle’s house suspicious characters keep hovering around the home. They once chased after me and warned me against pursuing the house,” he said.

His fears were confirmed by Nakuru Tenants Association General Secretary Newton Akanga who said “The boy has been tormented for long. Our efforts to fight for him have not yielded any fruits.”