‘I was not consulted on Kenya Railways demolitions in Kibos,’ Nyong’o says

Kisumu Governor Anyang Nyongo now says he was not consulted over the massive demolitions carried out by the Kenya Railways at Kibos.

The demolitions that were carried out over the weekend left close to 5000 families especially those from the Nubian community homeless.

“I was very surprised when this thing was done without reference to me, the city manager or anybody in the county government not withstanding what His Excellency had said. Nilipigia simu Bwana Mange jana. It is important that we do any work related to the building of Kenya Railways together so that we don’t hurt people. We have created a serious human settlement disaster in Kibos today and therefore we must find a lasting solution,” Prof. Nyong’o said.

He was speaking when he visited Kibos on Sunday.

KISUMU DEMOLITIONS

Thousands of families displaced following demolitions in Kibos
Residents displaced after KR bulldozers demolished their homes#CitizenWeekend @SamGituku pic.twitter.com/8TTjIAiaYD

— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) February 6, 2021

The Governor intimated that he wrote a protest note to the Kenya Railways management on the manner in which the demolitions were carried out.

He says when the government through President Uhuru Kenyatta started rail line rehabilitation they had an agreement to jointly carry out the plans.

Prof. Nyong’o noted that the Nubian community who are a minority have been adversely affected but his government has offered alternative settlement for them.

The Kenya Red Cross in cooperation with the County Government of Kisumu has since provided relocation support to the affected families.

Part of the support included temporary shelter, household items, clean water and psychosocial support services.

The demolition took place under the cover of darkness catching many residents by surprise and rendering them homeless.

Police officers lobbed teargas canisters to forcefully evict families who had earlier pleaded with the government to be spared as they have nowhere else to go.

Property of unknown value was destroyed during the demolition with families trying to salvage some of their belongings.