Deadly fibre: Kitui residents live in mortal fear of asbestos exposure

The spot at iongwe area in Kitui County where asbestos waste products were buried. (Photo: Philip Muasya/Standard)

Sometimes in March this year, a son to a prominent Kitui politician traveled from Nairobi to Kiongwe in Kitui East and rounded up a few villagers who have been farming on their family land.

He had a sweet proposal. They were to vacate the land by June so that he could put up a massive tourist hotel, which would absorb many of them as workers. “We were excited since we thought with such a facility, we would easily get jobs and it would also help develop the economy of the region,” recalls Paul Utee Kimanzi, a farmer who had a one-on-one chat with the farm owner.