Kalonzo, Karua accuse Gov't of grabbing Kenya Railways retirees' land

Opposition leaders Kalonzo Musyoka and Martha Karua are now accusing the government of allegedly grabbing land belonging to retired railway staff.

The leaders say President William Ruto must come out to tell the country who has illegally acquired the property located on Valley Road in Nairobi.

The Wiper leader and his People’s Liberation Party (PLP) counterpart accused the State of deploying General Service Unit (GSU) officers to the piece of land that was handed over to the retirees under a legal notice.

"Kenya Railways, under a Cabinet memo vested in their retirement scheme, this is their subject property. It has come to their shocking attention that a person high up in government who has a knack for grabbing public land is at it again. They have chased the poor pensioners out of their property on Valley Road, and the said property is now under police protection as a private developer demolishes the houses of the poor retirees,” said Kalonzo.

"Although the name of the title did change, the beneficial owners are the retirees. It is not available to the government or to any land grabber because it has owners who are the retirees," Karua said.

Karua added: "Following the steps that should be taken in any legal sale, it has already been sold, and they were paid Ksh.320 million out of Ksh.400 million, and only Ksh.80 million is pending, and I believe it was sold to a Kenyan."

The Association of Kenya Railways Retirees has been holding peaceful protests to demand the return of their land from the alleged grabbers.

They claim the land was rightfully vested in their retirement scheme as part of their pension, which they allege was never fully paid upon their retirement.

"We have all the papers, the legal notice, and the Trustee Perpetual Succession Act, which is irrevocable. Once properties are transferred to trustees, you cannot revoke the same," said a representative of the retirees.

According to the retirees, they were forcibly evicted from the property, which is now under police protection while a "private developer" demolishes their homes.

They called upon President Ruto to intervene and return the property to the retirees, questioning how much land an individual can conceivably own.