Locals of the Athiriver area in Mavoko are concerned over heavy murram excavation and dumping at the expansive piece of land owned by East Africa Portland Cement Company which the government carried out massive evictions in October last year.
Over 3,000 families were rendered homeless, with churches, schools and other social amenities reduced to rubbles after a court ruling that the disputed 4,912-acre piece of land belonged to the cement manufacturer and not locals who claimed ownership.
Two weeks ago, a seemingly well orchestrated business emerged on the Mavoko land which was left vacant.
Heavy murram excavation and cotton soil dumping business has turned out to be a lucrative venture.
A truck of murram is selling at Ksh3,000 and the business is manned by guards whose job description is to count lorries coming in with another individual assigned to collect cash.
Black cotton soil from construction sites in the neighbouring Kitengela and Athiriver is also dumped at night at Ksh500 per lorry.
Parts of some trenches that were dug around the land to avert encroachment have been backfilled to facilitate lorries’ movement.
“The government is talking about affordable housing to boost the number of Kenyans living in decent housing. Homes were demolished to create business for others. If murram is excavated and dumping done at that pace, the land will lose value and cannot be utilized for any meaningful development project,” Joan Wambua, a resident of Mavoko, said.
Locals say they suspect the multimillion business involves rogue Portland Cement officials working in cahoots with unknown tycoons and some security agencies.
“Who is the owner of the business? It is such an irony to chase people from their shelters at the expense of benefitting a few individuals,” Earnest Kasyoki said.
The murram is mainly supplied to a project belonging to a foreigner within Athiriver in Mavoko sub-county but the market is open to any interested buyer.
“It seems the murram market was well surveyed and identified before the commencement of the business,” said John Mweke.
A spot check at the area where the excavation is ongoing depicts a determined business person less disturbed by the upcoming deep quarries.
Some of the buyers say the price is strictly fixed and strictly payable on a cash basis only.
Locals say uniformed police officers are spotted within the quarries frequently.
Mavoko authorities
However, Athiriver sub-county police commander Jos Mudavadi says the officers are not attached to his station.
“We only deploy police officers in the land when there is a reported incident. Our officers are busy ensuring there is security for all and not assigned to guard any ongoing excavation whatsoever,” the police boss said.
Lucrative scrap metal followed the 10 days of demolitions which commenced on October 13 last year and movement in the once busy bee area is now limited and characterized with lorries.
Efforts to reach Portland management over the matter have been futile.
