Kalonzo, Karua Accuse Senior Government Official of Grabbing Retirees’ Land

Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka and People’s Liberation Party (PLP) leader Martha Karua have accused a high-ranking government official of orchestrating a land grab targeting Kenya Railways retirees. The contested property, reference number 209/1064/12345, is located on Valley Road, Nairobi, and was awarded to the pensioners as part of their settlement for dues owed to them by the Kenya Railways Corporation.

Addressing the media alongside a group of affected retirees, Kalonzo decried the illegal deployment of General Service Unit (GSU) officers to evict rightful owners from the land.

“These retirees were sent home by Kenya Railways without their pension. As such, Kenya Railways, pursuant to a Cabinet memo on May 4, 2005, vested in their retirement scheme the subject property,” Kalonzo stated.

He further alleged that a senior government figure, notorious for land grabbing, had manipulated state machinery to forcibly displace the pensioners.

“Under this regime, blatant greed and wanton theft backed by state instruments of power are holding sway over Kenyans. In this case, the poor pensioners have been chased out of their rightful property with a private developer coming in to demolish their houses,” the former Vice President lamented.

Martha Karua echoed his sentiments, revealing that the pensioners had already sold the land for KSh 400 million but were yet to receive a pending balance of KSh 80 million.

“We have noted a pattern where GSU officers are deployed whenever his name is mentioned in such cases,” she stated, implying that a powerful individual was behind the scheme.

Karua also cited a similar case in Naivasha’s Ndabibi area, where police had allegedly conspired to keep elderly landowners off their property.

“In Ndabibi, the owners of the land are old people who acquired it in the 1960s and took possession in 1974. However, the GSU and local police have been used to lock them out of their own land,” she added.

The retirees have vowed to fight for justice, calling on the government to intervene and restore their rights. Meanwhile, calls for transparency in land dealings and accountability for those abusing power continue to grow louder among Kenyans.

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Kalonzo, Karua Accuse Senior Government Official of Grabbing Retirees’ Land