Kisumu: Hundreds of households in Suba South constituency have expressed fears that the government intends to evict them from their land to pave way for setting up of a prison facility. The residents are concerned that the national government is using the youths at the National Youth Service (NYS) camp in Lambwe Valley to evict them from their land for the construction of the prison.
According to Kenya News Agency, the villagers complained that the NYS officers had started erecting beacons to demarcate their boundaries, but the officials had encroached into their parcels of land. The concerns stem from government plans to relocate Kenya Prisons in Homa Bay town to the Lambwe Valley. The residents claimed that NYS officials were evicting them from their farms without providing alternative land or compensation, and that they were not given any notice.
The families, led by senior citizens Walter Onyango and Enos Ochieng, said they have been living on the land since 1972. Onyango stated that the NYS had erected beacons for demarcating its land in 1986, and there had not been any conflict until now. “Most of us have stayed here for a long time, and we wonder why the government through the NYS claims ownership of the land. The beacons they put encroach into our lands despite us having lived here since 1972,” Onyango said.
Speaking to the media at Nyadenda Village in Suba South constituency, the residents stated that the encroachments violated their rights. Ochieng claimed the evictions were likely aimed at creating space for relocating Homa Bay Prison to the area. He urged the government to find a better way of acquiring land for the prison, suggesting they should be compensated and allocated alternative land.
Human rights defenders Evance Oloo and Michael Kojo expressed concerns that the families were going to be evicted without any public participation. Oloo urged Lands Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome to intervene in the matter and protect the residents’ land. “Let the Cabinet Secretary Lands Alice Wahome ensure they demarcated proper NYS boundaries to avoid chaos and ensure residents don’t lose their land,” Oloo said. Kojo added that they are ready to take legal action if the government fails to address the matter amicably, giving a seven-day ultimatum for resolution.
Suba Central Deputy County Commissioner Naftali Kojo stated he had not received the complaint, leaving the villagers and human rights defenders eager for swift government intervention.
