Hundreds of squatters who were evicted from a hill where they lived in Mavoloni area, Yatta Sub-County last year have appealed for government’s intervention to have them resettled.
The aggrieved residents who sought refuge in nearby churches and neighbourhood alleged that a powerful person grabbed the hill to operate a stone crushing quarry paving way for their eviction, thereby condemning them to untold frustrations and suffering.
They have started collecting signatures to petition the National Land Commission, National Environment Management Authority and parliament to stop the operations at the hill.
Led by their chairman Wambua Nzau, they alleged that there was no public participation before their eviction and that no leader or relevant authorities had helped in addressing the matter.
They decried that most of those evicted have died while others have been bedridden due to stress and trauma after losing their properties during the eviction exercise that was carried out by security agents backed by hired goons.
Francis Waithaka who survived bullet wounds after he was shot during the exercise said they even buried their relatives on the slopes on the hill and had to leave them behind for fear of their lives.
Jane Kanini Ndunda and Bishop Hosea Nthumba said they settled on the mountain 30 years ago when the whole area was under coffee plantation and wondered why they had to be evicted.
They alleged intimidation and harassment by security guards manning the mountain and local administration whenever they fetched firewood on the mountain.
“Whenever they find people on the hill, they arrest and charge them with trespass. Our domestic animals are taken away whenever we cross the boundary. Isn’t this mistreatment?” posed Nthumba.
Ndalani squatters Forum Chairman Francis Kilango who visited the squatters called on the government to halt the stone crushing operations saying it had led to serious environmental degradation impacts on the hill.
“They should find a long lasting solution to the issue by initiating public/private partnership development projects like repairing the access roads, digging a borehole and installing electricity in the region to help the poor residents catch up with life,” he said during a meeting with residents yesterday.
He added that they were in the process of collecting over 300 signatures to petition the government to have the squatters resettled as well as reclaim all grabbed public utilities in the area.
He also noted with concern that quarrying risked the lives of the communities living at the foot of the hill saying that in 2009, a family of five was buried alive by a huge stone that rolled from the top of the mountain.
