Trouble is brewing at a Squatter residential area in the outskirts of Nakuru town along Nakuru-Nyahururu Highway after a section of residents blocked former residents of the Squatter land from reclaiming ownership of the land.
In a heated meeting chaired by Menengai Sub Chief Samuel Chege on Tuesday at Nyamakuroto Squatters near Teachers Estate, elders of the slum area opposed a move by a section of formers Squatters to build rental houses in the Estate arguing that the former squatters had automatically ceased to be members of the Squatters Association after they relocated from the area several years ago.
Spokesperson of Nyamakuroto Squatters Association Reuben Wanyoike urgued that the move by five former Squatters to construct rental and other commercial buildings on pieces of land they formally occupied will be resisted by the residents as it was arrogance and against the Association’s By-Laws.
Wanyoike told Sub Chief Chege that the Association’s By-Laws provide that any Squatter who voluntarily relocates from the area whether he or she is a registered member of the Association or not, automatically ceases to have rights over a piece of land that he or she formally occupied.
He added that the move by five former squatters to put up commercial building in the area would violate the Association’s By-Laws and set a bad precedent adding that the land had already been put into use by the rest of the Squatters thus the move was likely to cause chaos.
“We are not going to allow people who voluntarily left this area to come back and start claiming ownership of land. So far this land belongs to all registered Squatters who are already making use of it. We do not want chaos,’’ said Wanyoike.
Spokesperson of the former Squatters Andrew Murage however claimed that they have never stopped being members of the Squatters, but have been working outside Nakuru.
“There is enough evidence that we are members of this community. We have been away because we got employment opportunities outside Nakuru, why should we be denied our rights simply we got a job elsewhere?,” asked Murage adding that the group would seek for legal interventions.