At least 20 elderly persons who have been residing at the Mekatilili wa Menza Cultural Resource Centre in Malindi Town were forced to look for alternative accommodation Thursday after a local tycoon evicted them.
The elderly persons, who had sought refuge at the centre after being rejected by their relatives on allegation of practicing witchcraft, found themselves in a fix after the Malindi District Cultural Association (MADCA) yielded to the tycoon’s pressure to vacate the premises.
Although the association was not physically thrown out of the place that used to be a showground, the tycoon had built a perimeter wall around the centre and, in the words of Secretary General Joseph Karisa Mwarandu, it was no longer feasible to stay put.
“We have decided to move out of this place following threats from the tycoon, and the fact that he is erecting a wall around the centre,” he said adding, “We feel insecure after the same tycoon demolished a church in our neighbourhood.”
Mr. Mwarandu claimed that the association had been staying on the disputed piece of land for more than 16 years knowing it was government land since the place used to host the Malindi Harambee Show.
“We are leaving but without making noise, because we do not know where we shall keep these elderly people who have been rejected by their relatives,” Mr. Mwarandu said, adding that the association had acquired its own land in Sabaki but had not put up any structures.
He said the association’s efforts to rehabilitate and offer residential services to the elders would be hampered by the new developments and asked the national and Kilifi County governments to come to their aid.
“We have been here for a very long time and we do not understand why the tycoon is evicting us yet he has refused to show us the land’s ownership documents,” he said.
He alleged that there was a ploy to grab the entire 24-acre parcel of land that used to be a show ground and called for investigation to stop the grabbing of public land.
He expressed fear that hundreds of palm wine sellers and food kiosk operators at the famous Mbuzi Wengi area would also be evicted as the tycoon was busy constructing walls around their stalls.
Kazungu wa Hawerisa, the association’s spiritual leader, named the tycoon as Japhet Noti Charo Shutu alias Janja, who he said had given the association a notice to vacate and immediately started erecting a stone wall surrounding the centre.
“We witnessed as the man ordered the demolition of a church and we cannot wait for him to come and forcefully evict us since some of the elders are sick and bedridden,” he said.
He said the MADCA was expecting to receive traditional artifacts recently brought by the government from Britain for preservation but wondered where such items would be kept.
He said the centre was being used by university students to conduct research on the cultural practices of the Mijikenda.
But the alleged tycoon dismissed the claims by the officials of MADCA, saying the land belonged to him and that he had ownership documents.
He accused Mwarandu of dishonesty, claiming that the Secretary General was using the elderly persons as bait to enrich himself without rewarding the people he claimed to be supporting.
“MADCA came to me and asked for a space to start a cultural centre and since my father loved culture and I am also a Kaya elder, I allowed them to stay,” he said in an interview.
Mr. Shutu showed the Kenya News Agency a lease agreement signed by 38 members of MADCA, including Mr. Mwarandu and the association’s chairman, Mr. Emmanuel Munyaya on January 20, 2015, which indicated that the association was to pay a monthly rent of Sh 5,000.
“Since we entered into the lease agreement in 2015, the association has failed to pay me even a single cent and this forced me to give them a six-month notice to vacate the land, especially after Mr. Mwarandu started accusing me of hosting mnazi sellers who operate beyond hours and that I had not built toilets for them,” he said.
“In fact I have been lenient to them since the notice I gave in June last year lapsed in December. I now want to use the land and MADCA should find an alternative place to carry out their activities,” he added.
He showed the Kenya News Agency the copy of an eviction notice issued by Richard O. Otara and Company Advocates dated June 26, 2018, giving the association six months to vacate the premises.
He clarified that the entire 24 acres belonged to him and that the government had asked to use it for a showground.
“Since the government no longer uses the land for the purposes we agreed, I had to take it back since the idea of an agricultural show was only a ploy to grab the land from me,” he said.
By Emmanuel Masha
