Houses torched as police evict 300 families from airport land

More than 300 families in Taita Taveta-County have been left homeless after goons hired to evict them from a 400-acres of land torched their houses. PHOTO | FILE

What you need to know:

  • The squatters accused the Taveta police of failing to serve them with a notice prior to the eviction on Tuesday evening.
  • However, Taveta Deputy County Commissioner Nkadudah Hiribae accused the villagers of invading the land in August.
  • Nation established that the Taveta Law Courts issued the order on Tuesday afternoon.

More than 300 families in Uzunguni area in Taita Taveta-County have been left homeless after goons hired to evict them from a 400-acres of land torched their houses.

The youths were acting on a court order issued to evict the squatters from the land which belongs to the Kenya Airports Authority and the county government.

The squatters accused the Taveta police of failing to serve them with a notice prior to the eviction on Tuesday evening.

Speaking to the Nation in Uzunguni yesterday, Ms Jane David said the more than 30 youths arrived around 6.30pm and started torching their houses.

She said they did not give her time to remove her belongings.

“I was forced to sleep under a tree with my eight month old baby. My children are crying because they are hungry but I don’t have food to give them,” she said.

Ms David, who said she had been living on the disputed land for the last three years, wondered why the government went to the extent of “burning a whole village” without giving them a notice.

PROTRACTED PROCESS

“The youths did not allow us to remove food and my children’s school books from the house. Some of them are in secondary school and come January they might not report to school,” she said.

The villagers blamed the county and national governments for their misery and vowed not to move from the land.

Mr Charles Igethi, another squatter, said a police officer showed him a court order after he tried to stop the youth from demolishing his house.

“The government did not serve us with the court order on time. Why did they torch the houses at night?” he posed.

However, Taveta Deputy County Commissioner Nkadudah Hiribae accused the villagers of invading the land in August.

He said the eviction was “a culmination of a long and protracted effort to kick them out”. He said the villagers were issued with a court order days before the eviction.

However, the Nation established that the Taveta Law Courts issued the order on Tuesday afternoon.

Mr Hiribae said Kenya Airports Authority has a title deed for the piece of land.

He added that the county government had already subdivided part of the land to residents and they would soon be issued with title deeds.

“KAA was issued with a title deed by the President when he visited early this year. They knew the land was not theirs,” he said.

REACTION

Squatters accused of invading parcel 

“I was forced to sleep under a tree with my eight month old baby. My children are crying because they are hungry but I don’t have food to give them”

Ms Jane David

“KAA was issued with a title deed by the President when he visited early this year. We then started witnessing people invade the land in August and we don’t know where they came from. They knew the land was not theirs”

Taveta Deputy County Commissioner Nkadudah Hiribae