Inside plot to kick street families out of Nakuru city centre

“Tulale wapi na wametubomolea nyumba?” This was the first question I was welcomed with after properly introducing myself to the street families (adults and children alike) opposite Railways station in Nakuru.

The bedding is scattered, and what remains are some neatly arranged wood planks and iron sheets that have been leaned against the fence.

They express frustration that some of their colleagues are now hospitalized with broken bones and other serious injuries at the Nakuru Teaching and Referral Hospital after a serious beating by authorities on the night of June 5 at 10 p.m., as others show me some minor injuries they obtained while fleeing.

This comes in the backdrop of the daylight attack by vigilantes in Nakuru city centre.

“The night we were retiring to bed, police and county enforcement officers showed up here demanding that we leave as they brought down our shelter. In that fracas, a beating ensued and everyone ran to save themselves. We climbed the mesh fence as others tried to escape using the makeshift route under it,” a source revealed to Mtaa Wangu.

They say they were told that there would be no sleeping in town and that they should go to Kivumbini.

“Where do we go to Kivumbini, yet that is a residential area?” asks one, revealing that there is also a group of street families on that side, and they wouldn’t welcome themselves on someone else’s turf without an invitation.

Furthermore, they low-key don’t understand each other.

We reached out to the Nakuru sub-county police commander, Samson Adanje, to confirm the involvement of the police in the demolition.

"Is that the work of the police?" he asked, adding, "That is not our job. The police are here to protect. Don’t implicate us in things we haven’t done," before hanging up.