State breaks promise, leaves thousands homeless in Ruai

At least 1,500 city residents were forced to spend a second night out in the cold amid heavy rains following the recent demolitions in Ruai.

This is amidst the Coronavirus crisis facing the country with Nairobi being an epicentre of the pandemic.

On May 8, 2020, the national government said it had suspended further demolitions for the next four months as the country tackles Covid-19.

The decision was made in a closed-door meeting chaired by Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i and attended by a section of Nairobi leaders.

But two weeks later, at around 10 pm on Friday night, bulldozers arrived at Ruai and ordered people to leave their houses before demolishing the structures.

The affected families have condemned the government for inhumanly evicting them in the middle of a cold night.

With the dusk till dawn curfew, many of the affected families had to shelter under trees and out in the cold as some of their properties were destroyed.

Stranded and full of despair, most parents and guardians called upon the government to relocate them as they had nowhere else to go to take their children.

The people are said to be living in the disputed 3,000-acre piece of land that is meant to pave way for the expansion of the Sewerage Treatment plan in Ruai.

The demolitions started last month, but the residents later obtained a court order stopping the eviction and demolition of their houses.

Two weeks ago, close to 5,000 residents in Kariobangi North estate were also left homeless after the government flattened the homes where they have lived in for 12 years to repose the grabbed Dandora Estate Waste Sewerage Plant land.

The demolition of structures caused an uproar from legislators, especially from the Senate stating that it was inhumane as the country is battling the spread of the coronavirus.

The government had said it will proceed with its planned sewer project in fear that the donors who fund it, may pull out.

The sewer project is aimed at boosting the city’s capacity to treat water by over 55 per cent.

At the moment, the capacity is said to be below 40 per cent.