Concern as Governor Evicts Over 10K Residents

Bungoma Governor Wycliffe Wangamati is set to evict more than 10,000 residents from a 110-acre piece of land in Webuye for purposes of setting up an industrial park.

The said parcel is public land owned by the county government thus there will be no compensation to the affected residents.

The move sparked protests from the residents who had been ordered to vacate since the land is owned by the government.

“Webuye is a cosmopolitan town and various communities have acquired plots and even developed them. Some bought the land while others leased it from the defunct Webuye Town Council. There are no plans to compensate us after we move out of our land,” ranted John Wafula a landlord in the area.

Speaking to The Standard, County Director of Communications Tim Machi, however, clarified that, “They are on county government land and those occupying them have not been paying rent to the county. The land will be repossessed to pave way for the industrial park.” 

Residents who possess title deeds further felt that the motive behind the eviction was malicious and meant to grab the said land.

“We are still in possession of our title deeds and some of us have sub-divided the land and sold to other private developers. The Lands Ministry has issued title deeds to that effect. We are reading malice and the motive is to grab our land.”

In an interview with reporters, Maraka Ward Representative Ali Machani Mutoka dismissed the project claiming it was not viable since it would not benefit residents.

He further stated that the matter concerning the project that was allocated Ksh150M had never been debated in the county assembly.

However, the governor maintained that the new developments set to be conducted on the land will provide over five thousand jobs for residents.