- The community is said to have been receiving eviction threats.
- Governor Mvurya has sent out a team to investigate the issue.
Over 200 people living with leprosy are at risk of eviction as the Kenya Medical Training College is said to be in the process of reclaiming the land they occupy in Msambweni constituency, Kwale.
The disputed Tumbe land is said to have been designated specifically for lepers by the colonial administration.
Tumbe chairman Salim Pato said the sickness was very contagious and had no proper cure then. The group was brought together as they underwent treatment at Msambweni hospital.
Pato said rumours about eviction began circulating years back as the government announced that the disease could be cured.
He said the KMTC management had been trying to take away the land and that the community receives frequent warnings of expulsion.
“Our crops were destroyed and we were forced to squeeze because the school was expanding its compound. Currently, they are fencing the whole land and telling us to prepare to move,” Pato said.
Meetings have been held to address the issue but the efforts have failed to bear fruit. The community accuses some county government officials of being at the forefront of asking them to vacate.
But Kwale Governor Salim Mvurya denied the allegations, saying his government had ordered no eviction. He promised to send some officers to investigate.
The KMTC principal’s office refused to address the media on the issue.
Tumbe simply means the rejected people, resident Jimmy Charo said.
The group has called for intervention, saying they have no place to go.
They said they have no chances of survival outside Tumbe amidst the rise of Covid-19 cases and the fact that they suffer stigma and discrimination from other communities.
Kea Menza, who is over 60 years, said he spent all his youth at that place and can’t trace his family.
“I came here as a young man even before Kenya got its full independence and now someone is asking me to leave. Where on earth will I go because this is my home?” Menza said.
Mwanaulu Ali expressed her fear that one day tractors will invade the land and forcefully evict them with no idea of where they will be relocated.
Ali said residents had opted not to repair their houses because they don’t know where their fate lies.
“We sleep standing because of roof leakages since we live from hand to mouth and using that money for thatching the roofs it will be a waste. We feel these people will come anytime soon,” she said.
Edited by Henry Makori