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| DILAPIDATED Hobley Road Estate in Buxton |
Senior civil servants facing eviction from government houses in Mombasa to pave the way for an affordable housing project have called for an extension.
At least 500 Hobley Road Estate residents in Buxton were asked to vacate the houses by October 1, but they have asked the government to give them up to May 1 next year to leave.
In a letter dated March 5, Mombasa county director of housing Rodgers Wakhungu gave the civil servants six months effective from April 1 to vacate their houses, having paid all outstanding water and electricity bills.
Wakhungu said that was a resolution made by the County Affordable Housing and Markets Implementation Committee (Camic) earlier that month at the Mombasa county commissioner’s boardroom.
Camic told the tenants they would be given first priority to purchase or rent units in the completed project.
“Please note that the state department [for Housing and Urban Development] holds you in high regard as our tenant, therefore once the redevelopment is complete, you will get priority to purchase or rent a unit as may be deemed fit,” Wakhungu said in the letter.
However, the tenants, in a letter dated July 19, said although they welcome and support the affordable housing project, they would like the Camic to extend the vacation period, citing numerous reasons.
“We thank and support the government for this initiative to provide Kenyans with an opportunity to own decent and affordable houses,” the tenants said in their letter.
“We also express our gratitude for your decision to accord us the priority to purchase or rent the units once the redevelopment is complete.”
However, they said some of them have children sitting national exams in October and vacating would disrupt their learning and examination.
They also cited the current economic hardship, saying the six months they had been given are inadequate to raise the requisite funds to seek decent alternative accommodation.
“This is compounded by the fact that no form of compensation has been mentioned in your letter,” the tenants said in their letter.
They said the extension will give them peace of mind to discharge their duties to Kenyans effectively and ample time to get alternative accommodation.
On Sunday, they requested UDA nominated Senator Miraj Abdillahi to help them secure an extension from the government.
The lawmaker had a meeting over land with Bondeni, Mwembe Kuku, Buxton, Mwakirunge and Kongowea residents to iron out issues and seek a way forward. They met in Mwembe Kuku.
“We have approximately 500 families there. Most of them are natives. We have been issued with a vacate notice without compensation or being told where to go,” a tenant said at the meeting.
“At Buxton point, families were compensated. But we are being told to vacate, having lived in the houses for 20 or 25 years, and having spent a fortune in renovating the houses. We feel it is a bit unfair.”
The tenant said they have spent almost Sh400,000 to renovate his house.
Another tenant said they have spent almost Sh800,000 on renovations.
“We ask you to hear our cry and present it to the government if you can,” they told Senator Abdillahi.
They said they would not like to be evicted like thugs with bulldozers razing their houses.
“We would like the contractor who would be given the contract to come sit with us and we negotiate a package for our vacation. We are government officers but we are also human,” they said.
The tenants complained there was no public participation.
“I found my letter had been slipped under the door as I entered the house from work because there was no one at home during the day,” another tenant said.
“We have asked around and a decent house requires at least Sh35,000 and you know our salaries do not match that.”
The estate, one of the oldest in the country having been established in 1931, belongs to the Housing ministry and houses senior National Government Administrative Officers and county government employees.
by BRIAN OTIENO