Governor Wavinya Ndeti cries, criticizes President Ruto about the demolition of Athi River.

Machakos Governor Wavinya Ndeti’s speech on the demolition of East Africa’s Portland land on Saturday was engulfed in emotions, cries and expressions of anger.

Ndeti said she had held talks with President William Ruto on the issue and opposed the demolition, calling it inhumane and unfair to the affected residents.

The governor accused the President of betrayal saying she had a conversation with him earlier that day and promised to stop the demolition.

According to Wavinya, the President has ignored the oppressed people he swore to defend during his campaigns.

She was filled with so many emotions that she shed tears while addressing the audience, regretting that Ruto has abandoned the Kamba community in their hour of need.

“If it was up to you, honorable Ruto, you would allow that to happen. We cannot allow that. We cannot allow you to demolish churches,” Wavinya said while crying.

“I want to tell His Highness that you were talking down, you talked about caring for the people down here. What is happening is that you are hurting them. Why are you doing that?”

The governor’s emotional speech came after bulldozers descended on many houses on Friday in the ‘Aimi ma Lukenya’ housing scheme in Mavoko constituency and demolished them while the owners were watching.

She described the demolition as government brutality and a serious violation of the rights of the affected people.

“It was surprising that the government security agencies continued with the demolition of houses without giving any notice to the affected people as required by law. It is particularly regrettable that the process was unduly rushed even though there were high-level discussions going on between i and President William Ruto on the matter,” the governor said.

Ndeti spoke on Saturday when she welcomed the clergy for prayers in his office in Machakos.

She demanded an immediate halt to the demolition and urged the Government agencies involved to stop evicting the squatters from the land on humanitarian grounds.

On October 9, 2023, the Environment and Land Court in Machakos annulled the case filed by ‘Aimi ma Lukenya’, who have been claiming the prime land of 4,298 acres.

Lady Judge A Nyukuri in her decision noted that Aimi Ma Likenya failed to submit their documents to the defendants as ordered by the court.

Ndeti vowed to challenge the High Court decision. She said the County Government was not involved in the case but is the main stakeholder in the ownership row.

“I have instructed our lawyers through the County Attorney’s office to order orders against the case to be overturned through an appeal. I have also instructed the County Attorney’s office to ensure that the Machakos County Government is scheduled as a party in the case,” Ndeti said.

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