Police block Raila from Portland Cement demolition site
Azimio La Umoja One Kenya coalition party leader Raila Odinga has condemned the government for allowing demolitions in Mavoko, Machakos County.
On Tuesday, police using water canon trucks blocked Mr Odinga from accessing the affected area.
But in a show of solidarity with the hundreds of victims, Mr Odinga accused President William Ruto of allowing the demolitions to take place despite promising to desist from such acts during his presidential campaigns last year.
Speaking in Mavoko while accompanied by Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka, Machakos Governor Wavinya Ndeti and other local leaders, Mr Odinga also accused the Kenya Kwanza administration of presiding over the demolition of places of worship.
He said it was unfortunate that the demolitions were taking place just as the rains were beginning.
“One thing that is being used against the opposition to the demolitions is that East African Portland Cement owns the land and the titles were fraudulent. We therefore demand investigation and accountability of everyone, private and public, involved in this,” said Mr Odinga.
On Tuesday, police using water canon trucks blocked Mr Odinga from accessing the affected area.
The Azimio leader said what was happening in Mavoko was forced eviction, a crime that President Ruto promised to end in July last year.
He described the move as a gross violation of human rights; the right to adequate shelter at a time when the government claims to be working to ensure that everyone has shelter.
Recognised human rights
“What is going on here indicates a systematic disregard of recognised human rights standards on the part of the State. The affected families, some among the poorest of the poor and the upcoming middle class, have not only witnessed lifelong savings demolished and crushed to ashes,” he said.
The opposition leader said that innocent families holding title deeds were now left to fend for themselves on the streets without basic shelter.
“Children who were learning in some of the schools here have seen their classrooms flattened into open fields, the upcoming exams notwithstanding,” he added.
He noted that the demolition was carried out in contravention of Kenya's 2009 Evictions and Resettlement Guidelines, which require 90-day written notice or publication in the government's official gazette.
“There was definitely no or inadequate prior eviction notice… Yet within minutes of a court ruling, people have lost their homes and their livelihoods. People have been left homeless and destitute, without means of earning a livelihood and with no effective access to legal or other remedies,” he warned.
Mr Odinga also questioned the urgent use of the land that led to the demolitions, which were carried out on a large scale and outweighed people's lives and savings.
“What is this urgent use that could not allow people time to move out by, say, next year? Are there personal interests riding on the guise of public interest? Does the East African Portland Cement understand that there are things people can do to fight back and even end its existence as a company? We are talking about people who most likely used the company’s cement to construct houses only for those same houses to be destroyed in the name of the company?”
