2 buried years ago exhumed as Vihiga land dispute escalates

 

A family in Shamakhokho, Vihiga County, was shocked Saturday when the bodies of two relatives buried several years ago were exhumed as a land dispute escalated.

The bodies of Lucas Asang'asa and his grandson were exhumed as police officers provided security during an eviction. Their relatives watched in disbelief as their houses were demolished.

Asang'asa was the driver of the ill-fated Homeboyz bus that killed over 50 people in Kericho in 2018, while his grandson died in 2019.

At the time of his death, Asang'asa was embroiled in a land dispute with a local developer named Patrick Malongo, who was on site to supervise the eviction of his family.

Police officers said they were enforcing a court order while Mr Malongo declined to speak to the media.

Ms Sabet Khalaru, Asang'asa’s widow, and her children Hecton Musikhala and Alice Kharambuka, pleaded for the government's intervention.

What happened

The dispute began in 2014.

Mr Malongo is said to have bought the land from Asang'asa's mother, Enesi Khavere, and younger brother Hesbon Agesa, without the knowledge of the other family members, hence the row.

Mrs Khavere and Mr Agesa then left the ancestral land leaving Asang'asa embroiled in the dispute.

"I was married here in 1976 and we have been living on this land since then. I am shocked to witness what is happening yet no one has informed me that the land has been sold," said Ms Khalaru.

She noted that her efforts to block the eviction have been unsuccessful.

Burial wish

When Asang'asa died in 2018, there were attempts by the developer to stop his burial on the disputed firm.

At the time, the family said it was their father’s wish to be buried on the land located along Shamakhokho-Chavakali road. They said Asang'asa fought to reclaim the land.

“We are happy we fulfilled his wish despite resistance from some quarters that had secretly presided over the sale of the land," said Ms Khalaru.

In December 2015, Asang’asa told Nation.Africa that his younger brother and mother sold the family’s land to the developer without involving everyone.

He was the first born in a family of eight children - four boys and four girls. Their father, Mr Kisundi Kilaini, died in 1994 while the subdivision of his land was done in 2012.

"Since we received the eviction notice, we have never known peace. People with masked faces come at night and gather us in one house. They hold us hostage for up to three hours," Asang'asa said in 2015.

At the time (in 2015), Mr Malongo insisted he bought the land and asked the aggrieved party to go to court.

He also maintained the parcel he bought belonged to Asang’asa’s mother and younger brother.    BY DAILY NATION