The Nairobi County Assembly is looking to pass a law that will set out appropriate procedures for eviction, demolitions and resettlement in the county.
It promises to offer protection from arbitrary evictions, protection and enforcement of fundamental freedoms and rights and the right to fair administrative action for city residents.
The Nairobi City County Evictions, Resettlement and Demolitions Control Bill 2020, sponsored by Parklands MCA Jayendra Malde, seeks to streamline the demolition of unauthorised structures in Nairobi.
The Bill is currently in the second reading. If successfully passed, it will stop the weekend demolitions that have become the norm, ostensibly to take advantage of the fact that courts do not sit on weekends and are therefore unlikely to issue emergency orders stopping such exercises.
The Bill further proposes that such evictions be carried out during good weather with no heavy equipment used except for permanent structures.
“An eviction shall be conducted during regular working hours, on Monday to Friday and during good weather,” reads the Bill in part.
Over the years, Nairobi residents have become used to haphazard property demolitions, many a time without any eviction notice.
Areas in Nairobi affected by a spate of demolitions and evictions include Chokaa, Njiru, Dandora, Githurai and Kariobangi, some of which have resulted in injuries and loss of properties with affected residents left to spend nights in the cold.
The biggest outcry has accompanied the evictions in Njiru and Kariobangi North in the last two years, where more than 10,000 residents have seen their property demolished on land that the government said was meant for water and sewerage works.
Markets are also a target for evictions, some by private developers who claim ownership of the land on which they are built. – Business Daily
