RETIRED President Moi, Internal Security minister George Saitoti and former Nairobi PC Fred Waiganjo were mentioned yesterday as the parliamentary probe on the Syokimau and Kiang'ombe demolitions began. Local residents were briefing the committee chaired by Gachoka MP Mutava Musyimi.
A resident of KPA village which was demolished with the Syokimau houses last week, James Opiyo, gave the committee a list containing the names of prominent people with interests in the land. He did not make the list public. Opiyo claimed the land had been allocated to the Lang'ata Jua Kali Muungano group by President Moi.
“In those days Kanu was the only party and those who sang the party slogan loudest were given land to settle after much pleadings. Originally we had been settled at a parcel near Wilson but PC Waiganjo later took us to KPA and the subdivision was done,” Opiyo said. Waiganjo has since died.
Lawyer John Khaminwa, who is acting for 491 residents of Syokimau, told the committee of his frustration when he attempted to halt the demolitions.
Khaminwa said High Court judge Nicholas Ombija had issued court orders maintaining the status quo until the matter was resolved in court but he was unable to serve the the orders as the demolitions went on.
“I realised our law is in a very weak position as I stood there with my papers watching very impressive properties tumble down. I could not help them. It reminded me of the bad old days,” Khaminwa said demanding full compensation for his clients.
Lawrence Githinji of June 17 Ltd Company, a group of residents who bought their land from Lang'ata Self Help Group, said his clients did not realise they did not have title to the land until after they had made the purchase. He said they were in the process of legalising their ownership.
Trust Bank, which went into receivership in 1998, holds the titles of many Syokimau plots as security for loans. These titles are now held by Deposit Protection Fund of Central Bank. Githinji said that last year the DPF agreed to settle for Sh64 million. “We had paid upwards of Sh20 million and were in the process of clearing the balance when the demolitions happened,” he said. Apart from losing their homes, Githinji said, the residents had lost the money they had paid to the DPF.
Lawyer Meshack Obura, who spoke on behalf of Uungani Settlement Scheme and Mulolongo Brothers Association, said the documents allocating the land were authentic. He said the Kenya Airports Authority should invoke the Compulsory Acquisition Act if it wanted to acquire the land.
Former MP Kalembe Ndile appeared before the committee as “a neighbour of Syokimau” and asked the committee to recommend a motion of no confidence in the government. He said if government was genuine about security, it would have bought the properties and settled security personnel in them.
“If Al Shabaab want recruits, they merely need to set up a tent in Kiang'ombe and Syokimau to see people flooding there. People are angry and cannot understand how their own government can do this to them,” Kalembe said.
Councillor Ken Ng'ondi of Mukuru kwa Njenga Ward, which includes the Kiang'ombe slums, told the committee that he had met some people allegedly sent by a city businessman who claimed to own the Kiang'ombe land.
At the Ole Sereni Hotel just before the demolitions, they asked him to persuade the slum residents to leave with a bribe of Sh2.4 million. A few days later, he met the businessman in the company of a top police officer and administrator. "They told me the demolitions will go ahead whether l liked it or not," Ng'ondi said.
Bernard Bosire, the chairman of Kiang'ombe residents, said the businessman talked to the Nairobi provincial police boss Anthony Kibuchi and Nairobi PC Njoroge Ndirangu to extend the demolition into the village. He said deputy PPO Moses Ombati had said the demolition would only affect structures on the flight path of JKIA.
“At least the President is retiring but why is the PM in this and will he also expect votes from us?” an angry Bosire told the committee saying Kiang'ombe people have been very peaceful unlike their colleagues in Kibera who root up the railway whenever there is a political issue.
Bosire said a top politician had started putting up godowns in March near Kiang'ombe village after another group of residents were evicted. Bosire said he was born in Kiang'ombe in 1978 on a sisal farm owned by three Europeans — Douglas, William and Brown. Bosire said that since the departure of the Europeans, various businessmen had laid claim to the land.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment