It was a sombre mood for a number of families in Mkomani ward, Nyali, Mombasa County after their houses were demolished.
The houses were brought down on Tuesday due to unclear circumstances.
Residents say that their houses were demolished by goons who seemed to have been hired by someone influential in the society.
One of the residents of the area, Fatuma Rais Idhi said that they had been given an eviction notice verbally, a week prior to the incident.
“We were surprised when we were given a verbal notice without any written document,” she said.
The landlord of the property told his tenants that Sh22,000 was needed as the ground rate but this information was disputed by Idhi’s lawyer who said that the rate being asked for does not exist anywhere in the devolution system.
The lawyer tried to get in contact with the auctioneers carrying out the demolishing but they did not get back to him.