Over 2000 residents from Bonje and Mwamdudu in Kinango, Kwale County have faced eviction, the latest move clears the remaining structures intended to pave way for construction work by a private developer.
The residents’ spokesperson Ramadhan Lewa said that they had written an open letter to President Uhuru Kenyatta seeking his intervention but fell on deaf years. The demolitions, followed the initial one on May 7, and was supervised by a contingent of heavily armed police officers.
“We tried to appeal to our President’s inner core, his humanity. It has been futile. Now all we can do is wait for God to work a miracle. We have grandfathers and great grandfathers who were still living on this land when they were displaced under unclear circumstances,” said Lewa.
Ban demolitions
Kwale Woman Representative Zulekha Hassan and her Nairobi counterpart Esther Passaris had earlier made a passionate appeal to Uhuru to do something about demolitions in the country. Hassan, who donated food worth Sh300,000 to the victims who have been spending nights in the cold after the demolitions, said Uhuru must ensure evictions,if at all, are done in a humane way.She called on the president to ban demolitions, saying they are tainting his image.
“If you have to demolish, you do it in a manner that every family doesn’t feel aggrieved. As you build houses, can’t we have a strategic and systematic way of acquiring government land?” said Passaris.
