Amnesty International expresses deep concern at community reports this morning that the Kenya Urban Roads Authority is demolishing homes and businesses along the missing link road between Ngong and Lang’ata roads in Kibra under armed guards.
“The demolitions and forced evictions betray the agreement reached by the Kenya Urban Roads Authority, the Kenya National Human Rights Commission and the National Lands Commission to undertake a rapid Resettlement Action Plan (RAP),” says Amnesty International Kenya Executive Director Irũngũ Houghton.
Under the agreement, the process of enumerating the thousands of inhabitants residing and working in four Kibra villages namely; Mashimoni, Lindi, Kambi Muru and Kisumu Ndogo began last week. This process is consistent with the legal provisions contained in the Internally Displaced Persons Act 2012 and Guidelines on Evictions for public consultations for a Resettlement Action Plan to be in place prior to an eviction.
“The goal of adequate and dignified housing cannot be met by stripping the 30,000 inhabitants of the only housing, shops, clinics and schools they have. Demolition prior to the completion of the Resettlement Action Plan betrays the public trust and violates our laws. These forced evictions must be halted.”
The ongoing demolitions in Kibra will render over 30,000 people homeless in violation of Kenya’s national and international human rights obligations. Amnesty International is calling on the Government of Kenya to immediately stop the ongoing demolitions and complete the enumeration of all affected people and the resettlement action plan agreed upon last week.
