At least 400 families have been left homeless after being evicted from Muthurwa Estate by the Kenya Railways Staff Retirement Benefits Scheme who own the land.
The families had been issued with a 24-hour notice on September 18, after the scheme claimed that it had no tenancy agreement with any of the households.
“You are hereby notified to vacate the premises described above within 24 hours from September 18 at 5pm. Be warned that this land belongs to the Kenya Railways Staff Retirement Benefits Scheme and we have no tenancy agreement with any occupants in the area. We shall take no responsibility for any loss incurred at the expiry of the time allocated,” acting Chief Executive Officer Pharis Ngotho said.
According to the Chairman of the Muthurwa Resident Welfare Association Mr Patrick Githinji, 24 hours was not enough for the families to make arrangements for shifting. He said that they had written a petition to President Uhuru Kenyatta to intervene.
Read: Muthurwa Estate Set For Demolition To Construct New Market And Road
“At least 400 of us have signed a written petition to the President informing him of our plight. We also highlighted that Justice Isaac Lenaola had directed the Attorney General to draft an eviction guideline that would be used under similar circumstances,” said Githinji.
The residents have been in a tussle with the scheme for years, and lost a court case in 2014 in which wanted the scheme stopped from making any demolitions.
In June 2018, it was announced that Muthurwa Estate and part of Marikiti market was to be demolished to pave way for the construction of a new market and a road by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Here’s the video of families leaving courtesy of the Nation:-
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