City slum residents hold demonstrations against illegal and
forceful night evictions by the Nairobi City council Askaris which has left
them homeless.
The residents from Kiamaiko slums in Huruma last month camped
outside the City Hall building for the better part of the day demanding
explanation over illegal evections and also harassment by the city council
officers.
Photos/ Sammy Mburu
According to the residents, the City council did not serve
them with any legal notice before demolishing their informal settlements on the
dawn of 17th August, 2012.
Further the residents expressed their anger on the way the
evictions were carried out, they claimed that they were woken up by rowdy city
council officers and the police who forcefully evicted them.
“It was around four in the morning on Friday 17th
August when we were awakened by bulldozers sound, when we came out were surprised by the number of council askaris with the help of both regular police
and the G.SU (General Service Unit)who collaborated in harassing and ensuring
we don’t resist the eviction plan,” said Kiamaiko resident Stanley Mwangi.
Mr Mwangi said the day before evictions; the residents had
held a meeting with the Starehe District Commissioner who assured them there
were no court orders or legal notices to eject them following rumours of
planned demolitions in the area.
According to the residents, in 1993, Nairobi city council
issued them with allotment letters approving them as legal owners of the land.
“The council issued us with allotment documents in 1993,
this meant that we legally own the land, we do not understand which criterion
was used to evict us because we were never served with any notice or
explanation for the evictions,” Mr Mwangi said.
David Mwaniki housing rights activists and head of Rapid
Response Team questioned the manner the evictions claiming that the council did
not follow the law in which around 70 homes were reduced to a heap of rubble.
He further said the action showed total disregard to rule of
law by the city council and efforts to establish who ordered the demolitions
have been futile.
According to Mr Mwaniki, the residents contacted Deputy
officer commanding police division from Pangani police station who coordinated
the operation and said “that they were not served with an official order to
evict but received a phone call for reinforcement of security for the
operation”
“This shows evection was carried out of contrary to any
legal procedures, the demolishers had no court order that authorized them to
demolish the area,” said Mr Mwaniki.
Naomi Barasa of the Amnesty International however appealed
to City council and the government to provide the residents of humanitarian
assistance who are now leaving without shelter, food, water and access to
sanitation facilities.
Ms Barasa said this is contrary to the spirit of law as it
denies residents their rights guaranteed in the constitution.
Citing Article 43 (b) of the constitution she continued:
“the constitution guarantees that all Kenyans have the right to accessible and
adequate housing, and to reasonable standards of sanitation; the demolitions do
not reflect respect of law, no one is above law.”
In a rejoinder, the Director of City Planning Tom Odongo
held an indoor meeting with the residents and assured them that the City
Council will look in to the matter and address their concerns.
Mr Odongo said the council will conduct analysis of the
Kiamaiko slum to determine who legally owns the land and after two weeks it
will issue a comprehensive report over the matter.
“I assure you that I will order investigations in to the
matter, we will conduct a survey in the area under focus to establish the real
owners, the process should be complete in two weeks after which I will give
full report over the matter,” said the city planning Director.
Mr Odongo however called on the residents to engage with the
council in achieving joint resolutions to address the matter
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