Properties worth millions have been destroyed after the county government of Kilifi demolished houses built on alleged government land in the Mabirikani area.
In an interview with the Star on Thursday Governor Gideon Mung'aro confirmed the demolitions terming them timely.
Mung'aro said they had issued several notices before but the occupants failed to honour them.
He said the land belonged to the social services department and had been set aside for the construction of county headquarters.
Mung’aro said the social service land was seven acres but it was grabbed and now only 4 acres remain.
The governor alleged that those who grabbed the land were not strangers but former state officials who allocated themselves land belonging to the government.
“We are going to demolish everything there because we cannot allow people to grab government land,” he said.
He said anyone who has built on government land should vacate as the houses would be brought down
Mung’aro said the tendering for the construction of the county headquarters will cost Sh500 million and works are set to begin next week.
County government enforcement officers and top county officials raided the Kilifi Social Services land allegedly grabbed by former government officials at around 5 am to begin demolitions.
One of the buildings allegedly belonged to a former Kilifi senior social services officer while another belonged to a former county physical planner.
The former social services officer Dora Chovu who was present during the demolitions wailed as her property was brought down.
Chovu said the demolitions took her by surprise and were costly since she took a loan of Sh3 million to build the rental houses and her retirement home. A loan that she is still servicing.
Chovu had to be held by a neighbour as she attempted to get into the house being demolished.
Chovu absolved herself from any land-grabbing claims saying she did not steal anyone's property and wondered why all her retirement investments had been brought down.
“What do I do now, where do I go after this? This is a big blow to my life,” she said.
The house belonging to the former county physical planner was also brought down. However the planner was not around.
Those also affected are tenants who said they had been assured by their landlords and landlady that there would be no demolitions.
Mwanase Ahmed a resident said he was called by his friend in the morning that her house had been demolished.
She wondered how the county demolished the properties early in the morning while people were asleep.
“They came to demolish the houses at 6 am. People have lost everything yet the economy is tough and now they have nowhere to go,” she said.
