400 families protest eviction from private farm

Over 400 families in Rongai, Nakuru County are stranded after they were forcibly evicted from Lomolo Sisal plantation two weeks ago by the farm owner.

The families who have pitched camp at the Athinai trading Centre along the Nakuru-Baringo road were left homeless after the Greek owned company demolished their houses and forced them out of the 3,500 acre farm.

According to one of the families’ representatives, Shadrack Kimose, police under instructions from the farm owner flushed them out of their houses before bulldozers ran flattened them on August 23.

“We were never issued with an eviction notice before being chased out of the farm. The police supervised the eviction claiming to act on a court order authorizing our eviction,” said Mr Kimose.

The evictees claim their ancestors have been living peacefully on the farm since 1963.

According to Mr Kimose, trouble started in 2012 when the company asked them to vacate the farm, as it wanted to put it into use.

He says their efforts to negotiate their stay at the farm fell on deaf ears as the company maintained they should vacate the land.

The families are now facing a humanitarian crisis as they claim to have nowhere else to go after the area leaders failed to address their problems.

"No one wants to listen to us,” said Ms Mary Chepng’etich, one of the evictees.

According to them, the area Member of County Assembly Samson Tutaek has ignored them.

Learning at Kaptich Primary School has also been affected as some of the evictees sought refuge from the classrooms.

However, Lomolo 1962 Limited company owner Harry Horn, when contacted by Nation said he only acted on court orders after the residents started claiming ownership of the land.

“We gave them a section of the land to graze their animals but they went ahead to encroach on it and when we asked them to vacate in order to develop it they refused and moved to court where they lost the case,” explained Mr Horn.

He said the evictees had taken advantage of his generosity and started frustrating the company by trespassing and grazing their animals in the young sisal plantations.

He maintained that he followed the court directions during the eviction exercise.

The trusted Society of Human Rights group Secretary Mr Elijah Sikona who condemned the actions of the company said they will move to court to fight the eviction orders.

“We are questioning the manner in which the orders by the court were executed and why the court can allow the poor citizens to suffer while protecting the interests of the powerful individuals,” said Mr Sikona.

Also speaking after visiting the evictees, human rights group chairman Mr George Narok said another group of over 1,000 families is facing similar eviction threat from the Makongeni farm which borders the Lomolo farm.