Squatters living in Lumumba area of the block-ten estate in the outskirts of Eldoret town on Monday held a peaceful demonstration to express opposition to plans to evict them from a 30-acre piece of land.
The evictions are meant to pave way for the construction of a multi-billion state of the art Referral Hospital.
Led by Jane Wangari and Jacob Wafula, the squatters claimed they have been living in the land for the past 50 years after they took over from the colonial masters who had left.
They expressed concerns and fears after they were issued with a 14-day notice to move out of the land.
“We are 57 families living in this part of the land, we have children going to school and now we are being told to move out. We don’t know what to do,” said Wafula.
“We are now in fear that our houses might be demolished. We no longer live in the houses, we are forced to sleep in cod,” added Wangari.
The squatters now want the government to allow them to continue living in the piece of land.
“We ask the government to help us because we have no other place to go to,” noted Wangari.
The 30-acre piece of land is part of the 200 acres that has been earmarked for the construction of an ultra-modern multi-specialized Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital.
Construction works have been expected to begin soon but that might not happen after an Eldoret land and Environment court issued orders stopping the eviction of families living in part of the land.
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