Two dead, 8 injured as police engage Nakuru residents in eviction row

What had been planned to be a simple eviction exercise in Nakuru turned tragic on Thursday, when two people died while six others were admitted to hospital with bullet wounds.

Property worth millions of shillings was also destroyed when police engaged tenants from several estates in the town in running battles after they resisted the evictions upon expiry of a 48 hour notice.

Residents of Flamingo, Kaloleni, Kimathi, and Kivumbini Estates who occupy houses belonging to the Municipal Council of Nakuru were up for eviction due to non-payment of arrears running into hundreds of millions of shillings.

The protests, which began in the early morning hours turned violent when the council askaris backed by a contingent of antiriot police tried to forcibly evict the tenants, attracting the attention of an irate mob.

Vehicle burnt

A reinforcement of more officers from the Central Police station had to be brought in after the mob set on fire a vehicle belonging to the council.

The mob had also started hurling stones at the policemen injuring two in the process.

The mob, mainly youths, then barricaded Moi Road which leads to the Nakuru National Park, leaving several tourists stranded. The tourists had to be escorted to the park by police.

At one point during the skirmishes, an overwhelmed police led by area police boss Johnston Ipara had to take cover at a nearby Catholic church surrounded by a stone throwing mob who were baying for their blood.

Two Administration Police officers who were injured - were admitted at the Forces Memorial Hospital with serious injuries after they were hit with stones.

Six people, two of them in critical condition, were rushed to the Rift Valley Provincial General Hospital with gunshot wounds.

Doctors battled against time to save a man shot in the head, who was said to have been an innocent bystander watching from the rooftop of his flat when a stray bullet caught him on the head as police shot in the air.

The tenants were resisting attempts by the council to evict them after the expiry of a 48-hour notice requiring them to leave for failure to pay their rents accumulating to Sh175 million accrued over a five year period.

The council has on several occasions tried to evict the tenants with little or no success over five years, but Thursday’s riots were so far the worst.

Mayor John Kitilit said during a press briefing that they had held a meeting on many occasions with the tenants where it was agreed that those with the highest arrears were to pay by August 31, failure to which they were going to be evicted.

“We have talked to them severally where it was agreed that those who were unable were to come and explain their problem but no one came,” said Mr Kitilit.

The mayor said that the council had yet to take a full account of the losses they have incurred as a result of the fracas.

Alleged dispute

At the centre of the eviction fiasco is an alleged dispute between the Council and the National Housing Corporation which built the houses.

“I have lived here for the last 35 years. The arrears stretch back since 2002 when the Council and the NHC started fighting over ownership of the houses.

The NHC told us to stop paying rent to the council since they (NHC) were the rightful owners,” said Mr John Odhiambo, a resident of Flamingo estate.

He added that they were in turn instructed by the council to thereafter withhold all payments till the dispute was sorted out.
“We are not against paying rent, but he should not be made to pay for somebody else’s mistake. The council should sit down with us and resolve this mss amicably, not resorting to strong arm tactics,” said Mr Odhiambo.

Another resident, Ms Jane Wairimu, said they were bitter with the Town Clerk for refusing to listen to their grievances.

“They say that I owe them Sh70,000 in arrears. They gave me 48 hours to pay up or vacate. How do they expect me to raise that money?” she said.

Town Clerk Sheikh Abdirazak Ahmed, who was away on official business in Nairobi, insisted that the evictees were in the houses illegally.

“We will not relent. We will not be stopped until they move out because they have refused to pay the arrears,” he said.

He claimed that some councillors had incited the youths into destroying property and causing havoc in the town.

“A tenant cannot remove a landlord from his own house. Those protesting are criminals who know that their time is up,” he told the Nation in a telephone interview.

He ruled out dialogue with the tenants accusing them of failing to abide by the resolutions in reached in the past meetings. “How do you dialogue with someone who is forcibly taking away your house?” he asked.

The Town Clerk said that they had the responsibility to protect public property adding that they would not be intimated. 

“It is the council right to demand that tenants pay rent and if they don’t then they move out because there are many people waiting to move in,” he added.