“Over 20,000 families left homeless in Kibera demolition”

Demolition of houses kicked off on Monday in Nairobi’s Kibera Slums paving way for the construction of Sh2 billion link road. The residents numbering 20,000 were warned about the demolitions but many stayed put prompting the government to evict them forcefully as early as 5.00 am. “The construction of Ngong Road-Kibera-Kiungu Karumba-Langata Link Road is at advanced stage. However, there are illegal structures which are on the said road reserve that hindered construction works at Kibera,” reads part of the warning statement. “This is therefore to give Public Notice that these structures must be removed before 16th July, 2018.”

The Ngong Road-Kungu Karumba-Lang’ata link road is expected to ease traffic in the capital city of Nairobi and has been in the pipeline since as far back as 2012 The Kenya Urban Roads Authority (Kura) had maintained there would be no compensation for the residents as the land belongs to government. Kura Communication Officer, John Cheboi observed that a majority of the structure owners were landlords living in Langata and they would only be assisting the families directly affected. “You cannot compensate someone for land that they do not own because they do not have title deeds. We will however give out something ‘small’ to help the residents relocate. They will also be allowed to carry their structural materials,” added Cheboi.