Homes in Nayeni village in Kilifi town have been demolished after years of a court battle between squatters and a British settler.
Residents were woken up in the wee hours on Thursday after two bulldozers started flattening their houses.
The bulldozers were given heavy guard by police officers.
The demolitions continued till about 6.30am. Kilifi North police boss Jonathan Koech declined to comment on the matter.
Nayeni is the second biggest squatter village in Kilifi after Kiwapa.
It has 2,000 residents while Kiwapa has a population of 3,000 squatters.
Nayeni community chairman Kilumo Mataza said he was not aware of any court order or eviction notice.
Mataza said the community will not leave the land despite the demolition of their houses.
“They came at around midnight and descended on our houses. We were not aware of the pending demolition," he said.
Mataza said the court case went on for six years before a judgment was delivered three years ago in favour of the other party.
"If there was a court order, why didn’t they execute it then?” he posed.
Sokoni youth leader Bilal Khamis said the land was being targeted by many influential people.
He blamed politicians for their predicament.
“This land is a hot cake. A Briton cannot evict us in our own land. There are leaders and tycoons behind it. They want us to move out so that they can occupy it. We have many students who cannot attend school today because they have lost everything. They should have prepared us. We are going nowhere,” Khamis said.
Gibson Kombe, another resident, blamed the government for doing very little to address the land problem in the Coast region.
“Where do we go now? This is where we called home. Are we not Kenyans? We are not seeing these demolitions in other areas apart from the Coast,” he said
Zawadi Ngowa claimed she was clobbered by police officers during the demolitions.
Zawadi who is four-month pregnant said she was rescued by another officer after pleading with them.
“One officer whipped me and I fell on the ground. He kicked me as I was pleading with him. Another officer came and asked him to leave me alone. They poured out my food. I have nothing to eat as I speak. I felt something coming out of my private parts. I want to salvage some few things then go to the hospital,” she said
Kilifi Land and Social Justice Centre rapid response officer Eric Mgoja said the law was not followed during the demolition.
Mgoja said police used a defective court order to evict the squatters.
“The court order was issued three years ago. A court order takes six months. Three months for mobilisation and three months for execution. The police should not have used that court order,” he said.
The organisation threatened to move to court to seek redress on behalf of the squatters.
The Nayeni community invaded the land nine years ago prompting Tony Stubbs who claims ownership of the 230-acre parcel to move to court.
The squatters lost the case and appealed. They also lost the appeal and in 2019 an eviction order was issued by a Malindi court.
Edited by P.O
