Traders who were evicted from the Karatina Railway land have been warned against going back to the premises unless advised otherwise.
Nyeri County Police boss Steve Ambrose Aloo said the government would not tolerate any person who would attempt to encroach on the piece of land to undertake any activity since it is located on a gazetted public land.
Oloo who was speaking in Nyeri during a County National Government Service Delivery Coordination Committee meeting has therefore advised those planning to relocate to the area to shelve such ambitions.
“The land in Karatina that has been the center of conflict between the public and the government is property of the Kenya Railway Corporation unless decreed otherwise,” he said.
“Consequently, no one should dupe members of the public to take over the premises for whatever reasons. As long as I remain in charge of security in this area, I will not allow a section of individuals to take charge of government premises meant for the good of this country,” said Oloo.
Kenya Railway Corporation has been at loggerheads with scores of traders it evicted from its premises in Karatina town last year after resumption of train services between Nairobi and Nanyuki.
However, last month area MP Eric Wambui said the issue would be sorted out to allow the close to 1,000 traders to resume their business after the transport entity allegedly allowed them back.
The traders would however be allowed to carry out their businesses in containers that were to be supplied by Kenya Railways instead of the traditional makeshift stalls.
The legislator said the move would help safeguard the small-scale traders who lost their means of livelihood after being kicked out from the area.
“When the traders were operating their businesses along this route, money was in circulation in this constituency as traders were making a killing. After they were evicted, their businesses collapsed and they have been living in abject poverty ever since but we are hoping the businesses will be revived once they resume,” he had told the press last month.
Oloo has also advised parents whose children are sexually assaulted to ensure they preserve every thread of evidence to avoid the collapse of such cases once they are presented in court.
The officer said many of the cases involving minors who have allegedly been defiled ended up being thrown out of court due to lack of credible evidence that could stand the required legal threshold.
Among pieces of evidence required as proof in sexual offences case include underwear from the victims and physical penetration of the victim by the perpetrator, both of which must be verified by officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and authorized medical personnel.
“Many of the cases involving gender-based violence collapse in court as a result of tampering with crucial evidence. For instance, in the event a minor is sexually assaulted, the guardian should ensure her undergarments are not tampered with and also avoid obliterating anything that may hold clues as to what may have transpired,” he advised.
Oloo has also refuted claims that Police lacked specialized officers to handle matters relating to gender based violence and clarified that there were enough gender desks in all the 30 police stations spread across the county with all the counters manned by female police officers.
