Residents of Bungoma County are counting losses after Kenya Railways demolished a mall, hospital, popular hotel, and other businesses.
Dawameds Hospital opposite the Bungoma County Assembly, the Railways Park shopping mall, and a local hotel were torn down by the excavators which did not spare any property found on the land allegedly belonging to the Railways corporation.
According to KR, the demolitions were part of an ongoing exercise in order to reclaim the land from the businesses it claimed had encroached the land.
Reports indicate that some of the traders had gotten wind of the planned demolition and salvaged some of their property. However, the majority of the traders decried the situation noting that they were unable to save most of their property.
Speaking to Citizen TV, some of the residents denied they had received notice from the county.
"We were not given time to move our property from the land. It's so unfortunate since we had not resisted the move," one resident lamented.
Some Kenyans took to social media to empathize with the traders as others castigated the government over the demolitions.
"Tough times for the business owners, I hope an alternative will be found. It was also absurd for government agencies not to warn people from building premises on railway land.
"They have deliberately ignored demolitions in Eldoret, Kitale and Bungoma, they are only discussing Sonko and BBI.
“It looks like the whole of Bungoma Town was standing on grabbed land. Wah! Those buildings that have been demolished for being on Kenya Railways land are many," read some of the online comments.
The demolitions carried out by the Railways Corporation has seen thousands of traders lose property worth of millions. For instance, in January 2021, over 100 businesses were destroyed in Kitale.
The residents woke up to hundreds of properties destroyed in the demolitions which occurred on Sunday night, January 31. The demolitions were, however, justified by Rift Valley Regional Commissioner George Natembeya who confirmed that a notice had been issued to the traders in December 2020.
He urged the residents to heed directives given by the county.
"Those who encroached on railway land are hereby called upon to vacate to give room for the resumption of train services," stated Natembeya.
