For slightly over a decade now, residents of Kagony and Korando area in Kisumu County have been living like slaves on their own land.
The families are in possession of legal paperwork, showing that they were compensated millions of shillings for the land by the national government and are supposed to have moved out.
Unfortunately, they have never been compensated and now live like slaves on their own ancestral land, where they are not allowed to engage in any farming activities.
Eleven years ago, the Kenya National Highways Authority, KENHA, forcibly took the residents' land for the construction of the Northern Bypass Road Project.
In return, the National Land Commission awarded them Ksh 900M, to appreciate them and facilitate their resettlement.
The wait has hit 11 years now as the residents wait for the money, even though they are not allowed to use the land for any economic activities.
Although they are yet to receive the cash, the land is no longer theirs, thus limiting their activities. They, for instance, cannot plant trees, plant food crops or even bury their relatives there since KENHA officially owns the land.
Shem Akello, one of the affected residents who now lives on the land as a squatter, narrated to the press the nightmare he has had to face after his son passed on.
“I was compelled to bury my son 12 metres away from my house as the local administrators and security officers ensured that the grave was dug beyond the demarcated area, a distance away from the designated burial point,” he narrated.
Monica Odero, another victim who says she wouldn't wish her current circumstances even on her worst enemy, is jobless and depends on her son.
Unfortunately, her son’s house collapsed and since the land is no longer his, he was prohibited from constructing another structure to house himself.
“Looking at the millions of shillings written on this award letter, it pains me since I cannot even afford to raise money to fend for myself,” Odero painfully explained.
Besides all, the major problem the residents are facing is lack of a place to bury their loved ones when they pass on.
One resident said they have to negotiate with their family members living outside the KENHA marked territory to offer them land to bury their loved ones, seeing as their culture frowns upon burying their kin in public cemeteries.
A certain Consolata agonized about the pain of being in passion with paperwork indicating she is worth Ksh 3M but doesn’t have the means to provide for her family. She only hopes that the money will one day become real, and the sleepless nights will come to an end.
“My entire piece of land was demarcated for the road project and we were rendered squatters. I appeal to the government to fast track the payment so that we can buy land where we can develop and live without prohibitions,” she pleaded.
