MPs team on demolition retreats to write report

The joint Parliamentary committee inquiring into the demolitions of houses in Nairobi and Mavoko has headed to Naivasha to write its report after winding up hearings.

The chairman of the committee Mutava Musyimi told journalists Friday after a closed-door meeting at County Hall, Nairobi that the report and the verdict of the committee will be tabled in the House “not later than Wednesday next week”.

The curtains came down on the hearings after the House team met Cabinet ministers George Saitoti (Internal Security), James Orengo (Lands), Amos Kimunya (Transport) and Musalia Mudavadi (Local Government).

The ministers showed up at the meeting with their permanent secretaries to shed light over the demolitions that has exposed deep rot in the Ministry of Lands and corruption in government ministries.

“It is very obvious from the hearings that we’re coming from a culture of impunity…it is an eye-opener to the problem that is national,” Mr Musyimi said after the hearings.

Mr Mudavadi, had earlier told the committee that the demolitions had shown that the rule of law had taken a backseat.

“I don’t want to pre-empt what the committee will come up with. But one thing that has come out clearly is that, as a country we must abide by the law, respect the Constitution and always act in the public interest. That should be our guiding principle,” said Mr Mudavadi, also a Deputy Prime Minister.

On Friday, journalists were locked out of the meeting as Prof Saitoti and Defence Permanent Secretary Nancy Kirui made their submissions to the MPs. They convinced the committee that they were going to talk about issues that were key to national security, and as such, it would be imprudent to have it discussed in the public.

Though Mr Musyimi in his media briefing declined to go into the details of the meeting, he described the deliberations as “helpful”.

“It is true that we had very helpful discussions; questions were raised and the clarifications given,” he said.  

The pending questions that the MPs sought to know, according to those who attended the meeting, is whether the demolitions were a Cabinet decision, or simply a directive of the provincial security committee.

They also tried to find the truth behind the verbal communication of the demolition order to the Kenya Airports Authority, something which was done, through the personal assistant to the Transport minister.

The validity of maps generated by different government departments, the validity of the Kenya Gazette notice on the land, were also discussed.

It was not clear if Mr Orengo named the MPs and other prominent politicians who he said were behind the land grabbing in the city. He had threatened to name the politicians in a closed sitting.

The evictions and demolitions were carried out in a hurried manner. Government departments ignored court orders, others feigned indifference to court orders, and the victims of the exercise have been left homeless.

While the government has termed all documentation claiming ownership on the contested land in Syokimau, Eastleigh, Mitumba, Kyang’ombe and Maasai slums as “fake”, the victims said they obtained the papers from the Ministry of Lands offices at Ardhi House.

The victims have sought compensation for the loss of property, forceful displacement and even the deaths that occurred in the exercise.

Parliament is scheduled to go on recess next week, and the victims hope that before the MPs take their Christmas break, they’d have debated and resolved the way forward on the demolitions debacle.