Proposed solution |
1. Ensure the Ministries in charge of Lands, Housing and Energy to take full responsibility for the injustices that these families have suffered and provide effective remedy including provision of adequate alternative housing, compensation and guarantees of non-repetition. 2. Call upon Parliament to investigate and summon all responsible officers from the Kenya Railways Corporation and Kenya Power & Lighting Company to establish why the Presidential moratorium on all evictions in Nairobi during COVID-19 was disregarded. 3. Call upon the Inspector General of Police to issue an advisory to all officers against facilitating unlawful activities related to evictions and to investigate and take administrative action on all officers who contributed to the forced eviction of Dagoretti Corner settlement residents |
Brief narrative |
On 1 October, residents from Dagoretti Corner settlement, in Nairobi, Kenya, were forcibly evicted from their homes by government agencies, ‘Kenya Railways Corporation’ and ‘Kenya Power & Lighting Company’ leaving more than 3,000 people homeless. This unlawful act was done in utter disregard of the Presidential moratorium on evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, issued on 11 May 2020. We call upon all stakeholders to act in cognizance of the need to safeguard the good health and life of all those forcibly evicted in the unlawful eviction. The Dagoretti Corner settlement forced eviction on 1 October was carried out to reclaim the parcel of land said to belong to the Kenya Railways Corporation. The Kenya Power & Lighting Company also demolished houses that were built along a power line. Most of the residents were away at work during the demolition and had no time to salvage their belongings. We have been informed that the residents have lived there for more than 25 years. The action of demolition of the residential dwellings, onsidering the prevailing circumstances, not only increases their vulnerability to COVID-19 but is also a gross violation of human rights including the right to adequate housing enshrined in the Constitution of Kenya and in the international human rights treaties ratified by the state. We call upon all stakeholders to act in cognizance of the need to safeguard the human rights and health of all.
Source: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr32/3151/2020/en/#:~:text=On%201%20October%2C%20residents%20from,more%20than%203%2C000%20people%20homeless. |