20,000 resist eviction from Ngong Hills

A row is brewing over the eviction of 20,000 people from a piece of land in Ngong Hills.

On Monday, Kenya Forest Service (KFS) officials attempted to evict the families, some of whom claimed to have lived in the area since the 1960s. The parastatal says it owns the land.

“At 6am, more than 20 fully armed KFS rangers walked into my compound in an attempt to evict me. They assaulted me and killed two of my goats,” said area senior chief Stephen Kereya. “I had not received an eviction notice.”

Eviction notice was issued

However, KFS spokesman Charles Ngunjiri said a 14-day eviction notice was issued in May.

“The KFS will seek all possible ways to compel the people occupying this land to move from this area because it serves as a water catchment area for residents of Kiserian and Ngong,” Mr Ngunjiri said.

He denied that rangers assaulted the chief and said that Mr Kereya had initiated the altercation.

Kajiado North district commissioner Kahiro Mwangi said he had asked the community to identify 10 elders to negotiate with KFS officials. The talks are expected to begin this week.