The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has broken its silence on the Woodley Estate demolitions that saw tens of families displaced this week.
Through a statement from acting party leader Anyang' Nyong'o, ODM condemned the government over what they termed as 'inhumane' treatment of residents whose houses were brought down.
"The manner in which the demolitions were conducted in the middle of the night was humane and shocking," the Kisumu governor asserted in a statement.
The demolitions done on Monday night on 43 houses owned by the county are part of Nairobi County’s broader plan to address the city’s housing crisis by having a larger 100-acre parcel transformed into a modern residential estate accommodating 1,975 housing units.
Nyong'o, while welcoming the move to sort out Nairobi City's housing problem, was critical of how the Nairobi County Government decided to handle the evictions after the three-month notice lapsed.
"The better procedure would have been to develop a high-density housing unit elsewhere and facilitate the housing of Woodley residents there in a humane and organized manner," the statement went on.
ODM, through their acting party leader, further accused the government of using a 'colonial approach' to evict the affected Woodley residents.
The Woodley demolitions came with so much uproar from the public that it forced a response from the area MCA Davidson Ngibuini.
Ngibuini reiterated his support for the displaced homeowners but insisted all due processes were followed before the houses were brought down.
For the longest time, there has been an impasse between Woodley residents and the Nairobi County Government over the demolitions. The homeowners have publicly advocated for the government to simply buy their homes outright instead of replacing their aging flats and maisonettes with 1,975 modern apartment units on the 10-acre parcel of land.
On Tuesday, Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja confirmed that the evicted 43 tenants would be compensated with Ksh900,000 each to pay rent elsewhere during the construction of the modern units.
Further, the Governor revealed the affected homeowners had been issued allotment letters guaranteeing them ownership of units in the upgraded estate once complete.
