Families In Mavoko Left Homeless After Their Houses Demolished By Goons Overnight
- by Christine Opanda on Saturday, 7 September 2024
Families from Kwa Munyeti Farm, Mavoko area of Athi River, Machakos County were on Friday left homeless after more than 100 hired goons demolished their homes.
According to reports, the goons were allegedly accompanied by a contingent of armed police officers who blocked the families from protesting.
Tens of uniformed masked armed police officers reportedly harassed the residents, alleging the land belonged to a government agency.
Those who tried to protest were injured in the process and were subsequently forced to seek medical attention at a nearby hospital.
[
The families speaking to journalists on Saturday stated they had not received prior notice of the demolitions. They, however, revealed that they had been receiving threats from unnamed land cartels in the area.
“A few days ago, we saw unknown people here, they claimed that they had come to demolish the houses but didn’t have the legal documents.”
“They showed up at night while we were sleeping and demolished the houses.” Peter Kasyoki, a victim narrated.
Families lost millions of properties in the unfortunate ordeal.
“I didn’t have much time to save anything and I have lost property worth approximately Ksh5.2 million,” Masese Machoma another victim revealed.
The locals revealed that for a long period, land grabbers and cartels have been conniving with police officers to force them to surrender their valuable land.
The residents have been involved in a land dispute with a government agency that claims ownership of the land.
The angry villagers, armed with a court ruling and ownership paperwork for the 50-acre plot of land, stopped the eviction bid, claiming it violated the rule of law.
Details of who facilitated the demolitions remain scanty. Land disputes are prone in Mavoko due to the area’s proximity to Nairobi with land brokers often eyeing parcels in the area.
Meanwhile…
Deputy Commissioner General of Prisons, Nicholas Maswai has issued a direct order for all prison administrators in Kenya to surrender land for the construction of mosques and churches.
Speaking during the opening of a mosque at the Machakos Prison, the public official, while pointing out that the facility had been built with donor funds, made the case for carving out land to ensure that prisoners get the spiritual nourishment they need.
The move, according to Maswai aligns with the overall government policy to reform and improve the human rights conditions at correctional facilities.
“The Kenyan Prisons Service is willing to donate land for those donors who wish to put up mosques and service,” he stated during the event.
Maswai went on to point out that prison administrators were looking to hire more religious leaders from across different faiths to handle the spiritual needs of both prisoners and state officers serving at the correctional facilities.
He referenced the hiring of Muslim maalims in 2021 as a step in the direction of integrating spiritual reform as part of the rehabilitation and reintegration of convicts into the society.
At the same event, Chief Maalim of the Kenya Prisons Sheikh Abass Makter, who is the senior most Muslim cleric in the prisons service pledged his full support to ensure that the newly opened mosque dubbed Masjid Yussuf serves the prison community.
Prison leaders pose for a photo at the launch of the Chandaria prison workshop at Meru Women’s Prison.
Makter said the mosque will serve as a space for reflection for inmates and prison staff.
The Kenya Prison Service has been undergoing significant reforms. In June, the government partnered with the Chandaria Foundation to modernize prison workshops and set up bakeries nationwide.
This initiative is designed to enhance prisoners’ skills and provide them with opportunities to support their families while incarcerated.
Correctional Services Principal Secretary Salome Beacco stated that the reforms are intended to empower inmates through productive activities.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua in November 2023, called for a transformative approach within Kenyan prisons, emphasizing their potential in advancing agriculture and industrialization.
“Create a revolving fund and make prisons self-sustainable. There is no reason why they should not produce enough food for inmates instead of buying the foodstuffs and selling the surplus. Penal institutions have huge tracts of land,” the Deputy President said.
