100-year-old granny saved from jail by Sonko now faces eviction

Margaret Ngima Gakoromo, the 100-year-old granny who was saved from serving a three-month jail sentence by Nairobi Senator Mike Mbuvi ‘Sonko’ now faces eviction.

Land surveyors have reportedly given Gakoromo and her family seven-days ultimatum to move out of the land, failure to which they will be forcefully evicted.

The granny’s son, Mbogo Gakoromo, told journalists that the surveyors came to the home last week in the company of a woman who claimed to own the land saying they had been ordered by the court to sub-divide it.

“They did not have any court order, they only showed us the surveyor’s letter and insisted that they have to do their work as directed,” he said.

Mbogo said the surveyors had been escorted by the area chief and armed administration police officers.

He said that they were surprised to be told that they must move out of the land by Thursday next week, failure of which they will be evicted and insisting that the land in question belongs to them.

“My two elder brothers are still in prison serving a six-month jail term for a crime they know nothing about. I wonder where we will take our children and our elderly mother if we are evicted,” he questioned.

The granny, Ngima Gakoromo, said that she is was injured after she fell while running away from the police officers who were beating them after they questioned why their land was being sub divided.

She insisted that she has not sold any piece of her land to anyone, adding that she has undertaken all the required processes of sub dividing the land among her sons as was directed by her husband Gakoromo before he died.

“They now want to evict me and burn my belongings, where will I go, do they want me to die in the streets, where will my descendants go, is this the independence that we fought for?” she asked.

Embu Council of Elders Chairman Andrew Ireri, who visited the granny, called on the Chief Justice to interdict Embu High Court Judge Florence Muchemi for mishandling the case and leading to the predicament facing the granny.

“She first sent her to jail for contempt of court, now she wants her evicted from her land. Which law does Muchemi interpret?” he posed.

The elder accused Muchemi of applying the law impartially to favour some powerful individuals in the area.