Huts set ablaze as 100 families evicted from disputed land

By Allan Kisia

Over 100 pastoralist families were forcibly evicted from a disputed land in Athi River, Machakos County.

Police ignored a court order stopping the planned eviction and ejected families from their houses in the wee hours of Sunday morning.

The evictors then set huts and manyattas ablaze as residents watched.

Jeremiah ole Matura said they have been evicted from the piece of land for the third time now.

“They have burned our houses and killed our animals. How do they expect us to survive,” he posed.

Agriculture Syndicate claims to own the land and had obtained orders allowing them to remove settlers from the land in Mavoko Municipal Council.

The company accuses the pastoralists of trespassing and frustrating efforts of transferring the land to the National Housing Corporation.

Adverse possession

But a group led by Timonah Nkutiti argued that they have lived on the land for more than 12 years.

Through lawyer Lucas Naikuni, the residents argue the land belongs to them by virtue of adverse possession.

The evictions in Athi River come when a Bill is already in Parliament outlining procedures of a forceful ejection.

The Evictions and Resettlement Procedures Bill, 2012, seeks to provide protection, prevention and redress against forced eviction for persons occupying land, including squatters and unlawful occupiers.

The Bill states a person shall not be forcibly evicted from their home without a court order authorising the action. “A person who forcibly evicts another person without a court order issued pursuant to section 4 commits an offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding one million shillings or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or both,” it also states.

The Bill, which is sponsored by Kisumu Town East MP Shakeel Shabir, further advocates for adequate resettlement plans before an eviction.