Over 1,000 squatters who were evicted from parcels of a farm in Ndabibi Naivasha have threatened to hold demonstrations to demand for justice.
While terming the eviction as illegal, the farmers from Mwana Mwereri Company accused some powerful individuals of using the police to take over their ancestral land.
This came as they promised to march to the offices of the Rift Valley regional commissioner next week demanding resettlement and compensation.
In the last one month, over 1,000 squatters have invaded several private farms and ADC land in Naivasha claiming to have bought it.
Last week, security officers moved to the area and kicked them out accusing them of illegally encroaching on government land.
But the farmers who claim to have bought the land 30 years ago vowed that they would not be intimidated as they had proof of land ownership.
The group chairman Edward Maina took issue with the eviction, saying that there was no court order that was produced before they were kicked out.
He said part of the disputed land had been leased out by government officers to some powerful individuals leading to the current tension and anxiety in the area.
“We were not issued with any eviction notice and we shall be marching to the office of the regional commissioner to demand justice,” he said.
This was echoed by Christopher Wakabu, who said that the community had obtained 3,000 acres adding that during the recent eviction crops worth millions of shillings were destroyed.
“It really pains us that all the crops that were in the farm were mowed down during the eviction yet we legally own this land,” he said.
Another member of the group, Esther Nyokabi, said that the eviction had adversely affected their way of life terming farming as their source of livelihood.
“This land belonged to our forefathers and it’s sad that as the country grapples with drought someone decided to kick us out of our farms,” she said.
On her part Mary Kahoto said that the fertiliser used on the land was bought from the government adding that they had lost a lot in the eviction.
“Many of us live in slums in Ndabibi and we have been looking forward to occupying land bought by our forefathers but some people are out to block us,” she said.
