Tears, pain as houses brought down in Mavoko, Machakos County

Tears of pain and despair marked the Saturday, October 14 eviction exercise of people living in Mavoko area in Athi River Machakos County.

Several residents who bought land and put up houses in the area woke up to roaring tractors bringing down the structures they had constructed and lived in for years.

The day-long exercise resulted in the demolitions of dozens of homes, schools, and churches that are said to have been erected illegally on the East African Portland Cement property.

Fred Nguku, a sales manager at a company in Nairobi took a loan of Sh2 million three years ago. He said that he then bought a 50 by-100 plot at Sh700,000.

''After seeing the title deed and doing a search on e-citizen, I established that the owner was Aimi Ma Lukenya Society," said Nguku.

''The government is not being fair at all. I have constructed a house worth Sh5 million that is now demolished," added Nguku.

He explained: "I took a job loan of Sh2 million to build, then continued to do the finishing slowly."

Narrating to The Standard the pain he has gone through, Nguku a father of two says the government should compensate for their plots and buildings.

Another victim of the demolitions is Monicah Kamene. The widow said that she has lost property worth Sh3 million.

"It is unfortunate that I am living in hell in my ancestral land. All that we owned we purchased and we are still being tossed around and living in confusion and threats from the company," said Kamene.

The mother of three said that she has lived in the land for more than four years.

"Now I do not know what to do after my four-storey house was demolished," she said.

The tales of Kamene and Nguku reflect the pain many families are going through after President William Ruto ordered squatters occupying part of East African Portland Cement land in Athi River to vacate.

The president said part of the land belonging to the East African Portland Cement, which has been occupied by squatters will be used to expand the manufacturing zone.

"We are happy that we have been cleared by the court. Those who thought they would benefit by selling out this piece of land should now vacate and go. The government will purchase part of this land and construct more factories there so that our jobless youth benefit,'' said Ruto.

Ruto made the announcement on Friday during a tour of Athi River where he officially opened the Square Pharmaceuticals.

He also ordered the Lands Ministry to revoke titles of land that has not been developed in Athi River for over 10 years.

"I have given clear instructions to the management here that all speculators, people who have held titles to pieces of land for 10 to 30 years without developing them be revoked so that we can give it to people who want to use this facility," Ruto said.

At the heart of the battle is 4,298 acres of the property said to be owned by the cement manufacturing company.

The prime land in question, LRNo 10424, is located along the Mombasa Road, south of Athi River Township in Machakos County.

The land is currently valued at approximately Sh15 million per acre and has for many years, been a tag of war among individuals claiming ownership.

More than 50 homes had been demolished, leaving hundreds of owners pondering their next move under the scorching sun and cloud of dust.

On Saturday, Wiper Party leader and Azimio co-principal Kalonzo Musyoka and Machakos Governor Wavinya Ndeti condemned the demolitions.

The leaders appealed to Ruto to reverse the decision to have the squatters evicted. Kalonzo demanded that the demolitions be stopped forthwith.

"What is happening must stop, now. Land is devolved. When the lease for the East Africa Portland Cement ran out, the land reverted to Machakos County Government. You cannot therefore conduct any business on matters land without involving the governor of Machakos," said Kalonzo.

Wavinya said the piece of land should be handed over to the community once the company is done with mining.

"There must be some people who are misleading the president and his government on this matter," said Wavinya.

The Machakos Governor termed the demolitions as state brutality and a serious affront to the rights of the affected people.

"It was shocking that Government security agencies proceeded with the demolitions of homes without issuing any notice to the affected people as the law requires.

It is particularly disappointing that the process was unnecessarily rushed despite the fact that there were ongoing high-level discussions between me and President Ruto on the matter," Wavinya said.

Kalonzo also criticized the court ruling on the disputed land, terming it a miscarriage of justice.

"The judge was ordered by the executive to strike out the application that was before her but instead she struck out the entire case. That does not happen. That is a serious miscarriage of justice. We don't understand where the orders for the demolitions came from," said Kalonzo.

Earlier on, Machakos Deputy Governor Francis Mwangangi and four MPs were dispersed by police on Saturday.

Patrick Makau (Mavoko) Robert Bui, (Kathiani) Steven Mule (Matungulu) Joyce Kamene (Machakos Women Rep) set out to assess damages caused during demolitions.

However, the lawmakers were forced to flee as they were confronted by hundreds of anti-riot police officers.

''You will not have any meeting here, we want everyone out of this place," shouted one of the senior officers commanding the officers.

At one point Makau and his Kathiani counterpart Robert Mbui attempted to confront the officers after being denied access to address their people.

Teargas canisters were lobbed dispersing the crowd that had gathered.

Robert Mbui said: "President is keen on fighting corruption and protecting the rights of the less fortunate. I call upon him to intervene and ensure justice for the poor prevails."

Mule said: "I call upon agencies concerned with land matters to come in first to establish the truth and rot surrounding this piece of land. It is not right and justice to fight a local community leaving harmoniously, Why can't they give them a notice to remove their property peacefully?"