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Officials say traders had been warned of operation
Bulldozers pull down the building housing Nakumatt Thika Road branch. Photo/JOSEPH MATHENGE
Government bulldozers descended on business premises on a road reserve along Thika Road on Saturday morning and destroyed property worth millions.
The Nakumatt Thika Road branch, Roy Transmotors, Vision Grill restaurant and Kenol service station were demolished in the operation which began at 5 a.m.
Security firms had to hurriedly empty automated teller machines of Barclays, Equity and NIC banks before they were destroyed. The operation attracted a large crowd and caused a heavy traffic jam on the usually busy road for the better part of the morning.
Armed Administration Police officers had a hard time keeping looters at bay as the demolition continued. But some managed to grab items, especially from the supermarket.
Rashid Hilowle, the security team boss, said they had arrested a man trying to cart away a colour TV from the supermarket.
The owner of Visions Grill, Mr Henry Mureithi, allowed people to eat and drink to their fill before the restaurant was pulled down.
At the Kenol service station next to Nakumatt, employees emptied the tanks which the manager, Mr Jonathan Onyango, said had 26,000 litres of fuel worth over Sh3 million.
Ministry of Roads officials on site told the Sunday Nation that the businesses had been served with a notice three months ago but were reluctant to leave the premises. More demolitions are anticipated in the coming days.
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We have been subjected to a leadership full of impunity and disregard for law and order. What the govt has done along thika road is desirable and should be encouraged and done to all other roads in the country. We have to start rebuilding this country and that begins from here. Kudos to the Ministry of Roads for doing this.
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UN PREDICTED LIFE What do Kenya's' big guys call development? maybe In Kenya the incumbent government is encouraging people that “Kazi Iendelee” (“Work to continue”) Some Kenyans are probably asking themselves, “Kazi gani?” (“Which work?”)with all these bulldozers. Destroying properties worth million of shillings and leaving citizens jobless is not development. Or maybe it is just a way of opening door for International donors to lend us their dollars. Sounds useless to me constructing new roads if citizen will not have that money for transportation. CELESTINE
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Too much maziwa_lala in the head, may be. This space was first a road reserve before some greedy and corrupt man bought it off for whatever purposes. I detest this kind of arguments. Tell them to Denali. Millions can't suffer at the expense of a few land grabbing rogues. I hope the Roads Ministry extends this exercise all over the city.
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