NAIROBI, Kenya Jan 14 – The government and the Orbit Chemicals company which is at the center of the Mukuru Kwa Njenga demolitions have agreed to allow the regularization of ownership of structures in the disputed after evictions.
The deal was arrived at following negotiations led by Lands Cabinet Secretary Farida Karoney, her interior counterpart Fred Matiangi, Attorney General Kihara Kariuki and proprietors of Orbit Chemicals.
The development is a big relief to the hundreds of area residents whose houses were demolished in November 2021.
President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday ordered for a stop to the Mukuru evictions and the subsequent resettlement of those affected in the next 30 days.
“We want everyone who is currently displaced to go back immediately. The instructions are that we immediately cease every activity in Mukuru kwa Njenga until everyone has been resettled,” Matiangi delivered the President’s message.
A section of the slum was demolished to pave way for the construction of the 30-meter-wide Catherine Ndereba road, which is expected to link the Nairobi Expressway to Industrial Area.
On December 27, 2021, at least one person died, and two others were injured in Mukuru Kwa Njenga as police battled residents who were protesting the alleged grabbing of some land in the area.
There was a confrontation between locals and police who had accompanied a group of surveyors to the land in contention to erect beacons.
Since October 2021, hundreds of residents living along road reserves were displaced to pave way for the construction of the Nairobi Expressway.
About The Author
