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| Smoke rises at Patel farm in Solai, Nakuru County on January 30, 2019 after angry residents torched part of it following an aborted meeting that had been called to assess the damages caused by the collapse of Solai dam in May 2018. PHOTO | ERIC MATARA | NATION MEDIA GROUP |
A planned meeting between the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) and victims of the Solai dam tragedy together with their legal teams has aborted after armed police officers cordoned off the venue.
The meeting was to be held Wednesday at Solai centre in Nakuru County.
Police said the meeting was illegal and that security authorities had not been notified about it.
An attempt by residents led by the KHRC Director George Kegoro and Kabazi MCA Peter Mbae to hold the meeting forced the police to disperse crowds that were gathering using tear gas.
Police engaged residents in running battles for the better part of Wednesday morning.
ROAD BLOCKED
The residents, most of them victims of the dam tragedy that claimed the lives of 48 people, barricaded the nearby Bahati-Solai road for nearly one hour as they protested the cancellation of the meeting.
Learning at the nearby Solai Nyakinyua Primary School was also disrupted as police engaged the residents in running battles.
The private dam, located inside the Patel farm owned and managed by Patel Coffee Estates Managing Director Perry Kansagara and the General Manager Vinoj Kumar Kansagara and Mr Kumar, burst its banks two months ago washing away a village.
Besides the deaths, the tragedy left over 5,000 people displaced after its water flattened Energy village in Solai.
During the standoff with the police on Wednesday, the residents also torched part of the Patel farm.
The dam burst its banks on May 9, 2018 causing deaths and massive destruction.
Various humanitarian organisations including the Kenya Red Cross have been helping the survivors to rebuild their lives.