Azimio One- Kenya Alliance leader Raila Odinga has condemned the recent demolition of houses in the prestigious Milimani estate in Kakamega, leaving the owners counting millions of ksh in losses.
Odinga criticized Kenya’s Kwanza government for the move, calling it “hostility and inhumanity.”
He recalled the historical parallels between the demolition of the administration of President William Ruto and what happened during the administration of the late retired President Daniel arap Moi, continuing to describe the former as worse than the latter.
”This is not expected. Even during the dark days of Moi’s dictatorship, we never witnessed anything like this here. If you know you are doing the right thing, you come during the day with your papers and show them to the residents,” Raila stressed.
Kakamega Governor Fernandes Barasa, on his part, pointed out he has been a resident of the demolished land for more than two decades and has a five-room house that was demolished at night.
“I have lived here for 22 years of my life, with my wife and children, the children born here are now grown men. We did not grab this land, we did not steal this land, we paid for this land,” he said.
The governor dismissed the government’s plan for housing, saying it makes no sense to evict people from their land, then build houses and call them “affordable.”
“They are building houses for us so that we can enter cheap houses, when will the houses be finished, I know I can build faster than what they are building here, we cannot allow our houses to be demolished so that our houses can be improved” Barasa said.
The opposition leaders unanimously agreed that the land does not belong to the national government and the demolition continues despite a court order to stop them.
“This land belongs to the county, and all those who built here pay taxes to the Kakamega county government,” he emphasized.
