The Lower Eastern Times Opening The Third Eye
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There was chaos on Friday in Machakos County after a group of traders held demonstrations to protest the overnight demolition of their structures.
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The angry traders blocked the Kyumbi–Machakos road near Miwani in Machakos Town subcounty, claiming county enforcement officers carried out the demolitions around 1:00 a.m.
“I got a distress call from a friend saying something was wrong. When I arrived, I found bulldozers had already brought down our structures. I couldn’t believe it,” one of the affected traders told the media during the protest.
The demonstrations disrupted transport along the busy road, commonly used by numerous motorists.
One of the traders said his kiosk, which had cost him around Sh60,000 and was still under construction, was flattened in the night operation.
The protestors accused the county government of acting without warning, saying no eviction notices were issued beforehand.
“We’ve lost our means of survival. If we had been notified, we could have at least salvaged our belongings,” another trader lamented.
Police officers responded to the scene and used teargas to disperse the crowd before clearing the road for traffic to resume. Several traders expressed despair, saying the demolitions had plunged them into poverty.
The destroyed structures were built along the roadside, reportedly on land designated as a road reserve, near the junction leading to Governor Wavinya Ndeti’s office—commonly known as the White House.
A senior official from Governor Ndeti’s administration confirmed that the operation was conducted by the county government, stating that the traders had illegally occupied the road reserve.
