Panic in Athi-River as residents decry police harassment over land row

Workers repair the entrace at an esterblishment in Mavoko area in Athi River , the gate.was allegedly damaged by police officers during a Demolition attempt in the area. [Peterson Githaiga/Standard]

Panic has gripped residents of Athi-River, Mavoko in Machakos County over alleged police harassment, intimidation, and looming forceful evictions amid an ongoing land regularization exercise.

Devastated locals claim that the process of legally settling them on a 1,200-acre parcel of land has been hijacked by rogue brokers, who are now using uniformed, masked, and armed police officers to terrorize them.