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Woodley estate residents plead with Sonko to stop house grabbing


Residents of Joseph Kang’ethe, Woodley Estate in Nairobi have made a passionate appeal to Governor Mike Sonko to stop county officials from grabbing houses within the estate.

In a statement by Estate Chairman Sam Gachago, the residents accused Senior County Officials of harassing residents and threatening them with evictions.

“This unsustainable practice has become a trend every election cycle where senior officials in the county government (and its predecessor Nairobi City Council) threaten tenants with evictions in an attempt to allocate themselves the houses,” wrote Mr Gachago.

He went on to explain how county officials use their influence to evict tenants from the public property.

TRAUMATIZED

“We have concrete evidence of such cases in the past and recently when a senior official in the immediate former county government used his influence to forcibly evict and occupy a house that already had a tenant. This act traumatized the tenant who was already in hospital and he suffered a fatal heart attack,” wrote the chairman.

Mr Gachago added that residents within the estate have maintained the houses despite them having been built ages ago urging Governor Sonko to protect their rights.

“Your Excellency, you are known to fight for the down trodden, and we highly appreciate your efforts of ensuring all Nairobians live in a better city… It is our prayers that God almighty will continue giving you strength and courage to protect Nairobians from exploitation,” wrote the estate chairman.

The 85.572-acre Joseph Kang’ethe Estate in Woodley, Nairobi, which is estimated to be valued at Sh75 million has in the past been at the centre of grabbing with the anti-corruption agency recovering it in February this year.

The National Land Commission revoked title deeds it said had been allocated to 103 individuals and companies, among them Nasa co-principal Musalia Mudavadi, who denied owning land in or around James Kang’ethe Estate stating that he was just a tenant.