During the 2022 General Election campaigns, deputy president-elect Rigathi Gachagua promised to settle second-hand traders in Nyeri County.
While drumming up support for William Ruto’s presidential bid, the deputy president-elect promised to ensure that the 2,000 traders evicted from a controversial piece of land are resettled back once the Kenya Kwanza Alliance forms the next government.
The controversial piece of land which is off the Nairobi-Nanyuki railways line is reportedly owned by Kenya Railways Corporation.
On Monday, August 15, Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairman Wafula Chebukati declared William Ruto and Rigathi Gachagua as the president-elect and deputy president-elect respectively.
Following the declaration of William Ruto and Rigathi Gachagua, a group of around 100 people on Tuesday, August 16, invaded the piece of land shouting “freedom is coming.”
The group immediately started demarcating the land by erecting beacons as if the piece of land legally belonged to them.
However, Kenya railways police swung into action and repulsed the invaders saying that the land belongs to the government and that it is not an individual’s property.
In a report by the Daily Nation, the invaders who were repulsed went back chanting “we will return once our president-elect is sworn in” saying they had not broken any law.
“We have not broken any law. Gachagua assured us that once they formed the government, this issue would be revisited. Now they have won, I hope he will keep that promise,” one of the invaders said.
While confirming the incident, Mathira East Sub-County Police Commander Benjamin Rotich urged the traders to follow due process stating that they will not allow idle people to grab other people’s property.
“It is true some people tried to invade the railway’s reserve… While people were celebrating after the declaration of winners, others were celebrating invading the land,
“…there is a legal way to go about it and if they want to conduct business there, let them approach Kenya Railways,” Rotich said.
