According to the residents, the KDF put down their structures at night despite a court order which had stopped the evictions pending the hearing and determination of the case.
The locals also accused their governor Mohammed Kuti of failing to protect them from the ongoing dispute. More than 20,000 residents reside in the disputed property.
Reports indicate that the military stands to hive off more than 49,000 acres of land in the area.
Speaking to kenyagist.com, KDF spokesperson Colonel Zipporah Kioko stated that she wasn’t aware of the matter at hand.
Past reports indicate that the locals had been issued a notice to vacate the land in September 2019 after which they filed a petition to stop the eviction.
The Ministry of Defence had stated that the notice to evict the residents would allow the KDF to proceed with their training activities which, they stated, posed a danger to the locals.
The news comes as the same KDF Batallion was recently barred from evicting about 7,500 families from Tigania East, Meru County.
The orders had been issued by the Land and Environment Court after 13 locals filed a petition seeking to stop the KDF from carrying out the evictions.
According to the residents, KDF illegally obtained a lease title which they used as evidence to begin the eviction process.
“The KDF has illegally obtained a lease title no. 27098 and that it is using this lease title to legitimise their illegal actions.
“If their actions are left to continue, the locals who live on the said land and have developed the same so extensively, will be displaced and be rendered landless,” stated part of the petition.
Source: KENYAGIST.COM
