Nairobi News

Thousands of residents of Kariobangi sewage slum have been left homeless after the structures were demolished on Monday morning.

The demolitions were done after they were given 24 hours to vacate the land the government says was grabbed from Dandora Estate Waste Sewerage Treatment Plant in Ruai.

EVICTION NOTICE

Some of the affected area residents claim that the area DC and OCPD only gave them a verbal notice on Sunday to move out by the end of the day.

“They came and only told us to move out, now we have no money to move to new houses, they could have at least given us a month to look for a place to go,” one resident said.

The repossession has come as the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation strains to handle sewerage needs and water supply to the 9.3 million residents of the Nairobi metropolitan area.

Only 50 per cent of Nairobi has sewerage coverage, a situation that has led to gross pollution of water sources, rivers and the environment endangering both the ecosystem and the people living in such environs.

With no alternative in finding land for such projects, the government has turned to remove the mole that has grown under its watch for decades.

But according to some residents who spoke to Nairobi News, they were allocated the plots by Nairobi city council in 2008.

“We have the allotments and the receipts that we have been paying to the county since 2008. We have nowhere to go, it’s raining and due to Covid-19 many of the residents have no money because many of our jobs have been affected by the pandemic,” said one of the affected resident.

RECLAMATION

The residents now have to move from the place they have called home for years after the allotment letters they were given by the people who sold them the parcels were turned to mere pieces of paper.

Together with the reclamation of the land stolen in Dandora, other projects such as the Sh20 billion sewerage project financed by a loan from African Development Bank and French Development Agency.

The project expected to be complete by July 2020 will see 80,000m³ a day of sewerage treated and thus connecting more household in Nairobi to the sewerage system.

A similar trend has plagued the other pieces of public land meant for sewerage treatment in Karura, Karen, Kabete and Kahawa West.

Last week, the government started evicting hundreds of people who had bought property next to the disputed 3,000-acre piece of land that was dramatically repossessed to pave way for the expansion of the Dandora Sewerage Treatment Plant in Ruai, Nairobi that was linked to Deputy President William Ruto.

This comes as the DP denied being the mystery owner of the land that has for the past week been associated with him in sections of the media.

Dr Ruto has remained silent over the property, opting to let his allies take the flak.

Some 40 bulldozers, under heavy police protection, continue to tear down any structures erected on the expansive parcel.