Mandera ordered to pay two communities Sh40m for forceful eviction
The Environment and Land Court in Garissa has ordered the Mandera County government to pay two communities a total of Sh40 million as compensation for rights violations and loss of property during forceful eviction.
A court has ordered the Mandera County government to pay two communities a total of Sh40 million as compensation for rights violations and loss of property during forceful eviction.
The Environment and Land Court in Garissa also declared that the eviction of residents of the Neboi and Garbaqoley communities by county authorities under the supervision of police officers was unlawful and illegal.
Justice Enoch Cherono ordered that each of the two communities in Mandera East sub-county be paid Sh20 million.
The court also prohibited county officials and the Inspector-General of police from issuing illegal directives and demolishing the residents’ houses or forcefully evicting them from the 2,000-hectare communal land.
No authority to deal with property
Though the county government is a trustee of all community land, that does not give it the authority to deal with the property, Justice Cherono ruled.
“There is an elaborate procedure under the Community Land Act to set apart the land which includes an intricate procedure that involves public participation,” he said.
He added that county officials did not confirm whether the public’s views were sought before the residents were evicted.
Justice Cherono said that an alleged order that gave the respondents the authority to evict the residents showed that the county government was the only party.
He added that “the case was not directed against the petitioners or any other party as respondents, [and] that in itself shows that the order is defective”.
Disregarded Constitution
The court also noted that the eviction disregarded the provisions of the Constitution as their rights were infringed.
Justice Cherono said that residents suffered because of the eviction, wanton destruction of their houses, and the detention of community members.
The petitioners – Abdullahi Mohammud, Osuba Omar, Mohamed Dubawe and Abdullahi Sheikh – had sued the county government and the Inspector-General of police on their own behalf and that of the other residents.
The petitioners told the court that they are members of the Neboi and Garbaqoley communities comprising 338 families who have lived on the unregistered 2000-hectare communal land in Central division, Mandera East sub-county.
Sometime in September 2020, they said, the county government’s enforcement officers descended on the land with crude weapons, demolished structures and told residents to move out or they would be forcefully evicted to allow officials to carry out development projects.
Indiscriminate violence
The court heard that on July 16 last year, county askaris went to the land and used indiscriminate violence against residents, scattered livestock, destroyed crops and demolished some of the structures before setting them ablaze.
The residents then erected temporary structures nearby, where they live as squatters.
Justice Cherono also ruled that demolishing the houses and forcefully evicting residents without giving children and the elderly alternative shelter violated their fundamental rights.
The county government did not file any response to the petition.
