Police have forcefully evicted up to 1,000 families alleged to be squatters on the 15,000 acres Ndabibi-Kosovo land in Gilgil.
The land which was formerly owned by the Agricultural Development Corporation and straddles Nakuru and Narok counties.
Evictees say police raided their homes in pre-dawn hours of yesterday driving them away and with the rains pounding the region, children are exposed to harsh conditions.
There has been a heavy police presence on the controversy-ridden land for the last two days after weeks of simmering tension between squatting families and purported owners.
Nakuru county police commander Hassan Barua on Thursday said they are facilitating a court order.
“The government is facilitating transport of the victims to their areas of origin and residents should stay away from sensationalizing the operation as that will escalate tension in the area that has experienced years of communal conflict over the land,” said Barua.
The Secretary-General of Trusted Society of Human Rights Alliance George Narok said the scale of injustices the poor landowners have been subjected to raises eyebrows to police commitment in profiling the innocent victims and driving them back to poverty.
“The police should exercise their mandate in a compassionate fashion in a bid to protect the most vulnerable,” said Narok.