Sakaja halts Mukuru kwa Njenga demolitions, promises to compensate affected families

A heavy contingent of officers arrived in the area early Tuesday morning before residents went up in arms opposing the forceful eviction. Officers later used teargas to disperse the irate mob.

Addressing the press after the melee, Governor Sakaja said that the evictions are illegal, intimating that the said construction plan was unauthorised and will not proceed until due process is observed.

"How do you have feeder roads being marked and have not been passed by our planning committee and the County Executive Committee (CEC). No agency can pupport to do work that belongs to the county without signoff from the county government. The decision has been made in another place," he said.

"The day that we agree on the access points, we must also have agreed on the compensation and the extent of it."

He said that a dialogue and a public engagement should be held instead of ambushing civilians, leaving them displaced.

"It is easy to sit with the people. Like all the roads we have done here have been done by speaking to the people, not by using force. All these officers here would make you think there is a terrorist activity here," Sakaja noted.

"These are innocent people. They are not animals that you come upon them at night. It is the most unfortunate incident. We will midwife a process with the people."

The Nairobi governor added that plans to compensate the affected families are underway, as a list is being compiled as the damage is being assessed.

The 30-metre-wide road, named after a Kenyan world champion marathon runner, connects Mukuru to the industrial area, the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and the expressway.