Government bulldozer demolishes houses in Kajiji in Kariobangi Nort on May 4, 2020. The residents said they were not given adequate notice before the demolitions were carried out. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

The government has been ordered to pay Sh100 million to people it evicted from a disputed piece of land in Kariobangi North, Nairobi County, in 2020.

The 369 people expected to benefit from the money are members of the Kariobangi Sewerage Self-Help Group. They are part of a total of 8,000 people who were evicted from the area.

The government accused the victims of encroaching and illegally building houses on its land before bringing them down on May 5, 2020.

The victims moved to court after their houses were demolished, accusing the government of engaging in illegality and evicting them without prior notice.

The complainants also accused the government of destroying their houses and property despite a court order barring it from evicting them.

The money includes Sh92 million that will go towards compensation, while the rest is the cost of the case.

Individually pursue

However, taxpayers may end up losing even more money after Justice Anne Omollo, while giving her verdict, told those affected to individually pursue the government for special damages.

In addition, Kenyans will have to foot the cost of restituting the victims after the government was also ordered to return all those affected to the same state they were before the demolitions, having been given 90 days to rebuild their houses.

Justice Omollo said that it was unfair for the government to demolish the houses without prior notice.

She found that all those who were affected had genuine land ownership documents indicating that the government had surrendered the property to them. The judge also found that the victims had paid for their plots and were waiting for the individual land titles.

"Their houses were demolished in the wee hours of the morning. They were rendered homeless despite a court order stopping the exercise," said Justice Omollo.

A resident of Kajiji village in Kariobangi North, Nairobi, ponders her next move after the government destroyed her house in May 2020. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

The government is said to have notified the victims verbally about the impending demolitions. However, the state was accused of not having taken any measures to provide the thousands of people with food, temporary shelter, access to water and sanitation or any type of compensation.

It was estimated that more than 8,000 people were forcibly removed from their houses.

The court noted that the demolition was one of those instances where the Executive had defied court orders.

It emerged that then PSs for Sanitation and Irrigation and Lands and Physical Planning were served with court orders issued on May 3, 2020, stopping the demolitions, following the case that was filed by the Kariobangi Self Help Group.

The group had sued three PSs, Kasarani Deputy County Commissioner, Nairobi County Government, Chief Lands registrar and the Attorney General.

Human rights lobby

Kituo cha Sheria was listed in the case as an interested party, with lawyer John Mwariri, who represented the human rights lobby, telling the court that government representatives heartlessly made pregnant mothers and children homeless when the country was suffering under the weight of the Covid-19 pandemic that had forced a lockdown.

State-run Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company (NCWSC) was claiming the contested property.

It alleged that its land had been illegally occupied since 2008.

However, Kariobangi Self Help Group told the court that the Kasarani Deputy Commissioner formalized their ownership of the land by issuing its members with allotment letters.

Lease certificates

The judge heard that they went ahead to get lease certificates for each plot and there was proof that Nairobi County and the national government had acknowledged that the land had been legally transferred to them.

The demolition victims told the court that the government failed to issue notices before demolishing their houses during the 5 am incident. They told the court all they had heard were rumours about possible demolition.

"The respondents (three PSs, Attorney General) endangered our lives since they rendered us homeless during a crucial time when the country was facing a pandemic," Mr Isaak Abdi, one of the victims told the court.

Residents in Kajiji in Kariobangi North try to salvage their belongings after the government demolished their houses following a land dispute. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

He said that if they had been given a notice, they would have tried to salvage their household items before the bulldozers arrived.

The AG stated that the case was similar to another one that had been filed before the same court and was awaiting judgment.

He asserted that the land in question belonged to Nairobi County. He said there was a clear procedure for alienating government land and accused the self-help group members of encroaching a government property.

The AG stated that on April 23, 2007, he wrote to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations in Kasarani, to investigate letters and lease agreements that had been allegedly forged. However, the DCI confirmed that the documents were genuine.

No justification

Meanwhile, Kituo cha Sheria director Annette Mbogoh told the court there was no justification for the government to evict the residents in an inhumane way.

Dr Mbogoh stated that the government was acting contrary to the constitution as it is required to ensure each Kenyan has a roof over their head.

Justice Omollo found that the self-help group had proved that its members had genuine ownership documents to the land. She ordered thy they should be allowed back and put back to their former statuses within 90 days.