Home owners’ pain in Kilifi as county flattens houses worth millions
Some of the property that was destroyed after the Kilifi county government demolished houses it claims were built on government land in Mabirikani area on April 4, 2024.
What you need to know:
- Reports indicate that the piece is earmarked for development of county headquarters.
- In an interview, Kilifi governor Gideon Mung'aro said the demolition was timely because they issued several notices to vacate but occupants ignored them.
Home owners in Kilifi county are counting losses running into millions of shillings after the administration demolished structures erected on public land in Mabirikani area.
At around 5am Thursday, enforcement officers from the devolved unit and senior county officials descended on the land leaving a trail of destruction and a torrent of tears.
The county said homeowners had defied a notice to bring down the houses leaving their tenants to bear the pain of removing household items at the last minute.
One of the buildings belonged to a former Kilifi senior social services officer, Ms Dora Chovu, while another was owned by a former Kilifi county physical planner Reuben Ngeta.
Ms Chovu who was present wailed uncontrollably saying she took a Sh3 million loan to build the rental houses and her retirement home adding that she is still repaying the amount.
Those affected are mostly tenants who had reportedly been assured by their landlords that there would be no demolition.
A section of locals interviewed, however, supported the exercise saying the land was government property.
Reports indicate that the piece is earmarked for development of county headquarters.
In an interview, Kilifi governor Gideon Mung'aro said the demolition was timely because they issued several notices to vacate but occupants ignored them.
He said the land belongs to the social services department and had been set aside for construction of county head office.
Mr Mung’aro said the social service land was initially seven acres but sections of it were grabbed leaving only four.
He said those who grabbed the land were not strangers but former government officials who allocated themselves land they knew belonged to the government.
“We are going to demolish everything there because we cannot allow people to grab government land,” he said.
The governor said anyone who has a building on government land should vacate as they would be not be spared.
Mr Mung’aro said tendering for the construction of the county headquarters which will cost Sh500 million shall begin tomorrow (Friday) and work is set to begin next week.
Kilifi county government demolished houses it claims were built on government land in Mabirikani area on April 4, 2024.
Mr Samuel Katana, a resident for over 20 years said those who built houses on government land were senior officials who were entrusted to protect public property.
“We are surprised by some people. They were given notice but did not move out until today when the grader came. We should respect government officials,” he said.
Mwanase Ahmed, a resident, said he was called by his friend in the morning that her house had been demolished.
“People have lost everything; the economy is hard, they have nowhere to go. I have been following this story for long and at times they said they would not demolish but now they have done it,” she said.
Salim Zeze, a resident, said locals were given notice a long time ago but they ignored it.
“We support what the government has done in demolishing the property which belongs to the government,” he said.
