Plans to resettle Kariobangi residents evicted during Covid period

A section of Kariobangi in Nairobi County. [File, Standard]

When the Covid-19 pandemic was ravaging the country in 2020, some families were evicted from a government land in Kariobangi, Nairobi.

The decision to evict the families during such time elicited uproar among Kenyans with section of politicians taking swipe at then regime of president Uhuru Kenyatta.

The government accused the victims of encroaching and putting up illegal buildings.

On May 5, 2020, the structures were brought down.

And now, Nairobi County has said the families will be resettled on the same piece of land since the land had been excised and allotments issued through the defunct Nairobi City Council.

In meeting chaired by governor Johnson Sakaja on January 16, 2024 the County Executive committee approved that the families be resettled in the land located in Kariobangi North.

"The residents had proceeded to get lease certificates for each plot," a dispatch from the county cabinet meeting reads in part.

It was estimated that more than 8,000 people were forcibly removed from their houses in an operation that was carried at night on the material day.

At the same sitting, it was resolved that all solid management invoices be audited including those from garbage transport providers and heavy machinery at the dumpsite s as to ascertain credibility of the pending bills.

Notably, the pending bill debate has been headache for the current administration according a report by the controller of budget Margaret Nyakang'o for the first quarter of the 2023/2024 Financial year.

At the same time, the county has suspended approval of for installation of billboards around the city pending evaluation of compliance by industry players.

"The County Urban planning department was directed to conduct audit, take necessary enforcement action and pent a report for consideration to CEC before any new approval," the dispatch adds.