A Member of the County Assembly has come to the aid of families in Kisumu County affected by the night demolitions carried out by Kenya Railways on Friday, February 5.
Kolwa Central MCA George Olwal contributed Ksh100,000 in cash and donated assorted foodstuff worth Ksh200,000 to the evicted families.
The families claimed they had nowhere to turn to after being rendered homeless following the reclamation of land belonging to the corporation.
Area MP Shakeel Shabbir, who visited the families, leased four tents to shelter the affected families and gave them temporary space at the CDF offices to accommodate the elderly.
He appealed to the government to reconsider resettling the families. Reports indicate that Kisumu County government set aside 18 acres for resettlement of 3,000 members of the Nubian community who were adversely affected by the demolitions. The county in cooperation with Kenya Red Cross also contributed foodstuffs worth Ksh300,000 .
Kibos Sugar factory donated foodstuffs, tents and mattresses to the families. The families had appealed to Kisumu Governor Anyang Nyong'o to intervene in the matter.
In response to this, Nyong’o condemned the manner in which KR conducted the demolitions adding that he was not consulted on the issue.
"I was very surprised when this thing was done without reference to me, the city manager, or anybody in the county government notwithstanding what His Excellency had said.
"It is important that we do any work related to the building of Kenya Railways together so that we don’t hurt people. We have created a serious human settlement disaster in Kibos today and therefore we must find a lasting solution,” Nyong'o stated.
Nyong'o pledged to give 2,000 pieces of iron sheets to help families construct houses.
The Friday demolitions which took place at around 8 pm rendered thousands of families homeless as they were unable to salvage most of their belongings.
