The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights has called on the government to issue emergency orders to stop forced land evictions and demolition of informal settlements.
In a post on Twitter, KNCHR said that such evictions during the Covid-19 pandemic are inhumane.
“The Corona Virus outbreak has been disruptive and destructive enough. The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights calls on the Government to issue emergency orders to stop forced land evictions and wanton demolitions of informal human settlements,” said KNCHR on Monday.
This follows evictions and demolition of structures in Nairobi at Ruai and Kariobangi estates that have put thousands of residents out in the cold.
Earlier this month, Athi Water Services Board evicted tenants from Kariobangi sewage slum with the agency’s chief executive, Mwangi Thuita, saying the tenants had not heeded warnings for five years.
The demolitions left more 5,000 people homeless, an act Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris called cruel and inhuman.
On the outskirts of Nairobi at Ruai and under the cover of darkness, the government commenced evictions on Saturday, May 16, kicking out hundreds amid wet weather.
In early May, the government started evicting hundreds of people who had bought property next to the disputed 3,000-acre land to pave way for the expansion of the Dandora sewerage treatment plant in Ruai.
