Kenya Railways land: State appeals court win for Nubian community
A child heads back home from school at a site for internally displaced persons at Kibos, Kisumu County, on February 18, 2021. The residents, majorly of the Nubian community, camped at the site for nearly two weeks after they were evicted by the Kenya Railways Corporation.
Members of the Kibos Nubian community in Kisumu will have to wait a little longer before they can be compensated for their eviction by Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC).
This is after the State appealed a judgement issued by the Kisumu Environment and Lands Court last week terming the eviction an infringement of human rights.
The Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development, CS Lands, the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government and the Attorney General say they are dissatisfied with the judgement.
“The respondents herein being dissatisfied with the judgement by Justice Anthony Ombwayo intend to appeal against the whole judgement,” read the notice of appeal.
In the 53-page judgment, Justice Ombwayo had ruled that the evictions carried out by KRC, without granting the victims alternative shelter, was an infringement of their fundamental rights.
The court also ordered that the victims be compensated for damage caused during and after the illegal demolition of their structures.
“This court orders that the petitioners are entitled to the full protection and discrimination right, which was violated by Kenya Railways and the CS Ministry of Interior and Coordination of the National Government are therefore entitled to full compensation,” said Justice Ombwayo.
The group moved to court on February 7 after their homes and property were demolished to pave way for renovation of the Kisumu-Nakuru Railway line.
The February 5 incident left over 3,000 people homeless.
