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Over 100 families living in a disputed land in Ruai, Nairobi, were on Friday forced to spend the night in the cold after their houses were demolished.
Speaking to Citizen Digital, some of the affected families said bulldozers arrived in the area around 9pm and they were ordered out of their houses.
A majority of them, who said they rely on menial jobs to earn a living, are now calling upon the government to relocate them as they have nowhere else to go.
“I have lived here for so many years and I never thought this is how I would be forced out. They came at 9pm when even the kids were already asleep, I had to wake them up,” said Rachel Waithera.
“We took our belongings out of the house and slept outside. We are asking the government to at least relocate us elsewhere because we have nowhere to go.”
Peter Kigano, on his part, added: “This is the place we have called home for years. So now where do they want us to go? And why does the government have to demolish our houses at night and without any notice?”
The demolitions began late last month as the government sought to reclaim a disputed 3000-acre piece of land to pave way for expansion of the Dandora Sewerage Plant.
The residents later however obtained a court order stopping their eviction from the land and the demolition of their houses.
Original source
On May 8, the National Government said it had suspended further demolitions for the next four months as the country fights Covid-19.
At around 10 pm on Friday night, bulldozers arrived at Ruai and ordered people to leave their houses before demolishing the structures.
At least 1,500 city residents were forced to spend a second night out in the cold amid heavy rains following the recent demolitions in Ruai.
This is amidst the Coronavirus crisis facing the country with Nairobi being an epicentre of the pandemic.
On May 8, 2020, the national government said it had suspended further demolitions for the next four months as the country tackles Covid-19.
The decision was made in a closed-door meeting chaired by Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i and attended by a section of Nairobi leaders.
But two weeks later, at around 10 pm on Friday night, bulldozers arrived at Ruai and ordered people to leave their houses before demolishing the structures.
The affected families have condemned the government for inhumanly evicting them in the middle of a cold night.
With the dusk till dawn curfew, many of the affected families had to shelter under trees and out in the cold as some of their properties were destroyed.
Stranded and full of despair, most parents and guardians called upon the government to relocate them as they had nowhere else to go to take their children.
The people are said to be living in the disputed 3,000-acre piece of land that is meant to pave way for the expansion of the Sewerage Treatment plan in Ruai.
The demolitions started last month, but the residents later obtained a court order stopping the eviction and demolition of their houses.
Two weeks ago, close to 5,000 residents in Kariobangi North estate were also left homeless after the government flattened the homes where they have lived in for 12 years to repose the grabbed Dandora Estate Waste Sewerage Plant land.
The demolition of structures caused an uproar from legislators, especially from the Senate stating that it was inhumane as the country is battling the spread of the coronavirus.
The government had said it will proceed with its planned sewer project in fear that the donors who fund it, may pull out.
The sewer project is aimed at boosting the city’s capacity to treat water by over 55 per cent.
At the moment, the capacity is said to be below 40 per cent.
Original source | 
