Hola residents narrate painful fight with land grabbers and the elusive search for justice
Ms Sahra Osman (right) is comforted after she broke down in tears during hearings before KNCHR commissioners at Laza Leisure Hall in Hola, Tana River County on November 1, 2016. She narrated the ordeal she has gone through trying to fight a tycoon who wants to grab the land on which she lives with her widowed mother. PHOTO | GALGALO BOCHA | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The two-day inquiry ended Tuesday and the commission will now move to Tana Delta Sub-County.
- A counsellor had to step in and comfort Ms Osman after she broke down in tears as she narrated her ordeal through a Somali translator.
- She said that their efforts to seek justice from the Tana River County authorities have been unsuccessful.
- A third witness accused the police of failing to arrest two men he accused of killing his eldest son.
Residents of Hola in Tana River County have narrated the ordeals they have undergone in the hands of land grabbers and their elusive search for justice.
A 32-year-old woman Tuesday broke down in tears as she narrated before the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) how her widowed mother has been struggling to fight powerful forces from grabbing their homestead in Hola.
Ms Sahra Osman spoke to the commissioners during the second day of the public inquiry on insecurity and its impact on the enjoyment of human rights and freedoms in Hola.
She said she has fought endless battles on behalf of her mother against a local powerful trader who is claiming ownership of the plot they have lived on for decades.
“My late father migrated into our current homestead…while [it was still a] forest and cleared bushes to establish his family’s homestead [where we have lived] until recently when Iftin Mohammed came seeking to evict us,” said Ms Osman.
Commissioner Jedidah Waikonyi termed the woman, who never attended school, as a heroine of her family and assured her that the commission will follow up her case.
BROKE DOWN IN TEARS
A counsellor had to step in and comfort Ms Osman after she broke down in tears as she narrated her ordeal through a Somali translator.
She said that their efforts to seek justice from the Tana River County government, the county commissioner and security agencies have been unsuccessful.
She claimed that a senior county officer, who is in a relationship with the tycoon’s daughter, wrote a letter indicating that their unregistered family land belongs to the trader, against the decree of the local council of elders who have known their family for a long time.
“A total of 12 elders visited the county lands office to [give information on] the status of the plot but their statement has been disregarded by the county land secretary Abdillahi Jillo who is a boyfriend of the tycoon’s daughter,” She alleged.
Ms Osman added: “One Sunday last month, Abdillahi and his girlfriend came in the company of two plain-clothed Administration Police officers and grabbed my elderly mother by the neck saying we will be evicted. They left after elders intervened.”
She testified that the county lands department is an interested party in the matter because of the alleged relationship between its official and the alleged land grabber’s daughter.
ELDERS' INTERVENTION
“As family, we have not sought audience the Governor (Hussein Dado) but the council of elders has paid a visit to the county (offices) explaining the status of our land but their position has been overlooked because of this rosy relationship between Mr Abdillah and Mr Mohammed’s daughter,” added Ms Osman.
A second witness, Mr Ibrahim Abdi Bargala, who lived in the same village told the commission that in 2013, together with his five brothers, they were kicked out their land after a local Arab trader went to court and obtained an eviction order.
He claimed that the trader colluded with officials at the Hola Law Courts to ensure justice was never served especially after the transfer of a magistrate who handled the case fairly.
He said they were eventually evicted from their prime land located along the main Hola Town road and forced to start fresh life elsewhere.
“We were not even aware of the judgement date until one early morning when armed police officers arrived to evict us. Our houses and properties were destroyed,” he said.
SON KILLED IN FRACAS
A third witness, Athman Komora Mkofira, accused police of failing to arrest two men he accused of killing his eldest son.
Mr Mkofira told the commission that his son died on May 30, 2016 in fracas between herders from Ijara in Garissa County and farmers from Galole, Tana River County.
He said the herders forcefully drove their animals into their farmland and shot dead his son who was going to the shamba and was unaware of the skirmishes.
“The doctor who conducted the post-mortem said my son died from [injuries inflicted using a] sharp object yet everyone knows [he was shot dead],” Mr Mkofira.
“When I visit Hola Police Station, they say investigations are still going on and it is now almost seven months,” he added.
The two-day inquiry ended Tuesday and the commission will now move to Tana Delta Sub-County Thursday and Friday for a similar activity.
