Protest as Kakamega reclaims grabbed sewer land

The Kakamega county government and land grabbers are in a standoff as the county reclaims encroached public sewer ponds.

National Environmental Management Authority officials on Tuesday arrested  CEO of the Kakamega Water and Sanitation Company Fred Atwa over the discharge of raw sewage into a stream.

He was released on bond on the condition that rehabilitation of the disused sewer ponds at Nabongo begins on Wednesday.

This action follows an expose by the Star early this month that raw sewage was flowing into streams in Kakamega, exposing residents to cholera and other water-borne diseases.

The country government yesterday used an excavator to scoop the sludge from the ponds.

But residents of Makaburini slum who are tilling the land halted the works. They demanded compensation for the trees and Napier grass they planted on the site.

Police were called to allow the works to continue. Youths fled when they arrived.

Residents led by  Mzee Apton Akatu said they were never served with an order before the excavator moved to destroy their crops.

“We have no problem with the land because we know that it belongs to the county government but we want the government to compensate for our crop there," Akatu said.

He said youths cleaned the land and used it after it became a security risk.

Thugs used to kill people and dump their bodies in the sludge ponds. The bodies were never collected.

The youths decided to clear the land, earn money and keep the site clean, he said.

Nema's Kakamega county director Simon Tonui ruled out any compensation or stopping the dredging.

“Listen to me and hear well, Old Man. If you want to be compensated, we will do so when you are in jail because you have been feeding people on raw faecal matter,” Tonui said.

He said that a multi-storey building coming up next to the lagoons will also be brought down.

He said that the investor took his Nema officers to a different site where he sought a license and it was granted.

“My staff was never brought here. They took them to a different site from this one and so this building is standing on top of a sewer line and must be destroyed but it’s a process,” he said.

(Edited by V. Graham)