- Malala said that it was unfair for the county government to have licensed the traders knowing they were operating in wrong locations.
- Several plot owners have been given notice to vacate their premises.
Demolition of illegal structures in Kakamega town is set to resume next week.
Governor Wycliffe Oparanya halted the exercise after pulling down stalls in the CBD. The operation is meant to reorganise the town in readiness for city status.
A senior enforcement officer yesterday told the Star that they will start razing illegal structures after the Saturday BBI meeting at Bukhungu Stadium.
"Several plot owners have been given the notice to vacate their premises pending their demolition. I can assure you that more buildings will come down. The stoppage was also meant not to antagonise the Saturday meeting," the officer said on condition of anonymity.
Also targeted are storey buildings on road reserves or public land. Owners have been notified to leave. However, a number of those issued with notices have sought court orders to stop the demolition.
On Saturday, Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala said the county government should find an alternative location for those whose business premises have been destroyed.
"I have met with Governor Oparanya and agreed that those whose kiosks were destroyed be exempted from paying single business permits because their premises have been destroyed, yet they had paid the permits to the country government," he said at a funeral in Lurambi constituency.
Malala said that it was unfair for the county government to have licensed the traders knowing they were operating in wrong locations. A senior government official said the property earmarked for demolition include the entire Jua Kali estate, which sits on land that was earlier set aside for industrial sheds but was grabbed and turned into a residential estate.
Others are churches and an upcoming flat on the land set aside for the Nabongo sewer lagoons buffer zone. A leading contractor has also been ordered to open up part of a road he blocked to serve as his official gate.