NMS threaten to demolish Nairobi Water staff houses
Nairobi Water staff residing in duty houses in Eastleigh’s Section 3 estate have been threatened with evection by the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) over what they (city water staff) believe is a scheme to grab the land.
Fred Buluku, the chairman of the Nairobi water staff, says the intention to demolish the residence amounts to a malicious endeavour.
He claims the Nairobi Water staff attached to the North Eastern bureau, the division serving the Nairobi CBD, and its environs, who have been living in these staff quarters situated along First Avenue, Eastleigh, have been asked to vacate.
“First, there has never been any formal, prior vacation notice to the Nairobi Water staff living in these duty houses,” he said.
“This project was funded by the World Bank. And were built for the Nairobi water staff. Since then, my colleagues have been living here,” he added. “This field was owned by the defunct Nairobi City Council.”
“But why are my colleagues being evicted without notice?” he wondered, adding that when he reached out to the city directorate about the intended demolitions, it “took the normal ping pong twist where he keeps referring you to higher power that-be”.
Mr George Solo is one of the Nairobi water staff who has lived in the duty houses since 1992 when he joined the parastatal. He had just returned from work when NMS officials “stormed” his residence asking him to vacate.
Around 5 pm on Thursday, the staffer recounts, two NMS lorries, and several policemen descended on their premises threatening to flatten the 17 houses that dot the section “anytime”.
“I have never been served with any notice,” he said. “Yet, yesterday the NMS official said that Sh200,000 had been issued to us to vacate these premises.”
“They told us that they do not care wherever we were to move to. They just said we should leave this place immediately,” he added.
The policemen, he said, offered security to the NMS officers who sprayed the walls of the house with red paintings, writing “vacate. Moving out deadline July 1, 2020”.
Solo and his colleagues say they are now living in fear that their residences could be brought down anytime.
“We’re living in a borrowed time,” he said. “We do not know the hour when the demolition team will descend on our team.”
NMS director of city inspectorate, Dr Mark Leleruk, was unavailable for comment. He did not pick calls nor respond to our texts by the time of press.