By Andrew Mbuva
The Machakos County Government has declared its intention to challenge in court an eviction notice issued to residents of Njunguini in Makandara, Athi River, by the Kenya Meat Commission (KMC).
Speaking on the matter, County Executive Committee Member for Lands, Physical Planning, Housing, and Urban Development, Nathaniel Nganga, condemned the planned evictions as a grave injustice against families who have lived and invested in the area for over two decades.
“It is completely unacceptable to displace people who have called this place home for more than 20 years. The Kenya Meat Commission and the national government watched these people settle and develop this area to 99 percent — now they want to throw them out? That is simply unjust,” said Nganga.
While acknowledging a court ruling that affirmed KMC as the legal owner of the land, Nganga insisted that the County Government is pushing for a humane and fair resolution — one that compensates residents for their long-standing investments.
“These families have built homes, their children go to school there, and they’ve poured their life savings into these properties. Demolishing their homes without offering any form of compensation is wrong,” he emphasized.
Nganga also took a swipe at KMC, accusing the parastatal of defaulting on land rate payments for years, claiming the company owes the County over Ksh2 billion.
“They should settle their land rate debts with the County before even thinking about demolishing a single house,” he stated.
He reaffirmed the County’s commitment to take legal action to block the evictions and proposed a regularization program instead — warning against a repeat of the chaos witnessed during the Portland land saga.
“We will go to court to stop this. Our proposal is clear: implement a regularization process. We cannot allow another Portland-like tragedy to unfold,” he said.
