Over 200 families evicted from disputed KALRO land in Kirinyaga

The families had been forced out of the land and their houses and crops destroyed during the eviction operation that started on Friday. The exercise was enforced by heavily armed police officers.

They said they had been living on the disputed land since the 1990s and accused the government of illegally kicking them out as they have genuine title deeds. 

Having lived in the land for many years, the families even buried their relatives in the graves that have since been destroyed.

The destruction has also caught some senior leaders in the constituency whose acres of rice farms have been destroyed. 

A KALRO official who sought anonymity said the families were thrown out of the land following a court order.

He said the families were served with a notice to vacate the land but ignored it.

The official said the land meant for research was grabbed back in 1995 and illegally allocated to the families. “We have an eviction order from the court and the families have to go," he said.

According to the official, the land was taken by a private citizen in 1995, who then sold it to other buyers. But title deeds were later cancelled in 2018 through a court process by the National land commission. 

“The latest court order is of July 2024,” the officer said. 

Kirinyaga Senator James Kamau Murango condemned the eviction, saying families could have been given time to harvest their crops.

Murango wondered how the families could be living in the land for over 40 year without government’s knowledge.

“The grabber should be arrested and the people who have lost their properties compensated,” Murango said.