(NAIROBI, Kenya) — The Kenyan government has begun demolishing homes built in flood-prone areas and promising evicted families the equivalent of $75 to be rehoused after the deadline for evacuate in between deadly rains.
In the capital, Nairobi, a bulldozer destroyed sheet-iron walls as people watched in despair. Armed security forces with batons stood guard and fired tear gas at some residents. Last week, the government told thousands of people living near rivers, dams and other flood-prone areas to vacate, as heavy rains that have left 238 people dead in recent weeks continue to hit.
Most people whose homes were demolished say they don’t know where to go, although the government says they have been notified of their options. Human Rights Watch has accused the government of an inadequate response.
“Now what are we going to do? We love our president and that’s why we support him. He should come to our aid,” Jekenke Jegeke told the Associated Press.
President William Ruto, who visited the vast informal settlement of Mathare along the Nairobi River on Monday, said those whose homes were demolished would receive 10,000 Kenyan shillings ($75) to help them resettle in another place.
Three people, including two children, died in Mathare after being run over by excavators during demolitions – one before the president’s visit and two after it – according to civil society groups.
Opposition leader Raila Odinga last week warned the government against demolishing any more homes without a resettlement plan in place.
The number of people affected by floods in Kenya has risen to 235,000, most of them living in camps.
Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki on Tuesday reiterated an evacuation order for 200 families living in the Kijabe area, an hour’s drive from Nairobi, where about 60 people died and homes were destroyed when water broke through a railway tunnel blocked last week.
This disaster prompted the government’s evacuation order. It is unclear how many homes across Kenya have been demolished since then.
Meanwhile, Kenya’s Cabinet said water levels in the country’s two main hydroelectric dams – Masinga and Kiambere – had risen to “historic levels”, with people living downstream of the Tana River being told to leave the country.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
