Blow for Kisumu govt as court stops Ofafa evictions

Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o’s administration will have to wait longer to reclaim the iconic Ofafa Memorial Hall, after a Kisumu Court issued an injunction stopping the eviction of traders.

The decision came after three business people on February 25 sued the county government, acting City Manager Abala Wanga and the Luo Council of Elders for interfering with the tenants’ activities.

Mr Wanga last week gave the traders, whom he accused of encroaching on the premises, until Tuesday this week to vacate so as to allow renovations for the facility that once served as a cultural centre for the Luo community.

The tenants who went to court are Kispho Enterprises Ltd, Ofafa Club and Christian Fellowship Church. The site is on the Kisumu-Kakamega road.

Through their lawyer Pascal Odhiambo Abungu, the traders laid 11 grounds for their case, accusing Mr Wanga of issuing an eviction threat regarding a property they said belonged to Luo Council of Elders Registered Trustees.

The city management claimed the business people owe the county government almost Sh50 million in land rates.

But the tenants argued that the planned eviction is illegal as the facility is held as a trust property and that they have been making periodic payments for the leases.

“The county government and the city management have no legal proprietary interests over Ofafa Memorial Hall thus their intended actions fall afoul of the law,” said Mr Abungu.

The applicants believe that they have a strong case against the county government and that any attempt to evict them will make them suffer economic losses.

“The applicants herein stand to suffer immense prejudice, tremendous loss and untold hardship should the threats of eviction and demolition be effected as they will inevitably be,” said Mr Abungu.

In a joint affidavit sworn by the three applicants, they said there had been talks between the county government and the Luo Council of Elders over renovations but they never agreed. They argue this shows there is no basis in law or fact for the intended eviction.

Renovations

On January 18, the governor’s office wrote to the Luo Council of Elders identifying the Ofafa Memorial Hall as a unique heritage site, alongside Kit Mikayi, the Abindu caves and Luanda Magere, that needs special attention.

They requested a partnership with the council through preparation for the Africities summit, improving the facility and issuing notices to allow renovations of the Ofafa Memorial Hall.

In a response through a letter dated February 17, the trustees accepted the renovations but asked the county to specify the exact areas to be improved.

They also demanded that they agree on a leasehold period and rent payable for the potions that are to be developed for the Africities conference. The council also asked the county government to compensate those who are evicted for losses and damage.

But on February 25, the council responded by cancelling engagements with the county government over the possible lease of Ofafa.

However, in a ruling issued by Kisumu Senior Resident Magistrate Chrispine Oruo on March 1, the court certified the matter urgent and stopped the planned evictions until the court case is determined.

The magistrate issued an order restraining county officials from “interfering with the quiet enjoyment of the traders’ and the peaceful occupation on their demised tenancy premises held at Ofafa pending hearing and determination of this application inter-parties”.

The county had revealed plans to use the hall, named after Ambrose Ofafa, a pre-independence trade unionist, as a Luo traditional centre ahead of the ninth Africities summit.

The late Ofafa was shot and critically injured in an alleged highway robbery in Nairobi, succumbing two days later in 1953.

The facility, built in 1961 under the patronage of former vice-president Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, served as the community’s headquarters.

Members of the Luo Union East Africa working in cities and towns all over East Africa contributed funds, which helped build the hall.

Many significant meetings have been held there and the bodies of Luo Nation luminaries were brought to and viewed at the iconic hall.

While Jaramogi’s dream was to maintain it as the heart of Luo cultural activities, it has turned into a commercial centre hosting shops, bars, churches, hardware stores and car-wash businesses, diminishing its significance as a heritage site.

The inter partes hearing will be held on March 10.

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