Tenants read malice in Changamwe flats demolitions

Some 36 families at the Changamwe New Flats Estate in Mombasa are living in limbo after they were threatened with evictions.  

On Tuesday, police oversaw the partial demolition of some three blocks that they were supposed to move into.

Laptrust, through property managers Laser Property Services, deemed the blocks dilapidated and uninhabitable.

The families, whose original houses are marked for demolition for construction of a Sh22 billion road from Digo Road to Mariakani, say they will not move out before compensation.

They had earlier agreed to move to the units which have been vacant for about five years.

Airport Police Unit officers, who were being housed at blocks A13, A14 and A15, moved out in 2015.

Vincent Otieno, a member of the Directly Affected Persons committee, said the demolition of the houses is sinister and meant to prevent tenants from moving in.

“We had agreed to even repair any damages on our own. How come they do not want us to move into those blocks? Someone is eying those houses,” Otieno said.

However, Laptrust, which took over the houses from the defunct Municipal Council of Mombasa said they intend to build new structures very soon.

In a letter dated April 3 and addressed to Mombasa police commandant, Laser Property said blocks A13, A14 and A15 are dilapidated and uninhabitable.

“We, therefore, wish to start partial demolition of the existing structures by removing only the falling windows and doors,” said Catherine Masyuki, the CEO of CPF Group, for which Laser Property Services is a subsidiary.

CPF Group is wholly owned by Laptrust.

Otieno, Changamwe MCA Bernard Ogutu and the civil society officials led by Zedekiah Adika said the demolitions were premature.  

“What is the hurry? These houses are going nowhere. Why demolish them when there is a stand-off that is being addressed by the parties involved?” questioned Adika, who is the chair of the Coast Civil Society Network.

Otieno called for another consultative meeting to resolve the standoff once and for all.

Kenha’s 41.3km road project, being funded by FSW, a German Bank and African Development Bank, is being implemented in two phases.

Phase 1 is the 11.3km Digo Road-Jomvu section which is currently halted while Phase 2 is the 30km Jomvu-Mariakani section.

According to Ogutu and Haki Yetu’s John Paul, the National Land Commission released Sh84 million to Laptrust as compensation for the compulsory acquisition of the land and disturbance allowance.

The MCA said the agreement was that all affected families be given Sh333,000 down from the Sh700,000 that they were each demanding.

However, Laptrust offered a paltry Sh50,000, the tenants said. They have lived in the estate for about 42 years.

Masyuki asked the Star to give them time to respond and referred us to their public communication manager Esther Karegi.  

Otieno said some of the families took the compensation money, others refused, saying it was too little and insisted on moving to the now-demolished 36 units.

The Directly Affected Persons committee member said the argument by Laptrust does not make sense because all the houses in the estate were built at the same time.

“If these houses are uninhabitable by now, then the others should be also and they should be demolished,” he said.

MCA Ogutu said he will not allow the continued construction of the road before his people are compensated.

“This is not fair to my people. They will not move,” Ogutu said.

Adika said as the coronavirus pandemic persists, evictions and demolition of houses must not happen as directed by President Uhuru.

“The residents of Changamwe flats must not move an inch from where they live right now,” he said.

Muhuri rapid response officer Francis Auma said those who demolished the flats should be arrested because they acted in contravention of Uhuru’s directives.

“Those people were thugs working under the protection of the police,” Auma said.