Home Tags Posts tagged with "Naivasha"
Tag:

Naivasha

Prof Simon Gicharu

Thousands of squatters in Naivasha, Kenya who were evicted from a land that they claim was allocated to them by the former government of President Daniel Moi (deceased) have written to Kenya Commission for Human Rights seeking their intervention after Simon Gicharu , the founder and chairman of Mount Kenya University reportedly bought it through rogue land officials and influential politicians who served in the government of retired president Kenyatta.

In a letter dated 9th June 2023, directed to Kenya Commission of Human Rights, the 3,000 squatters notes that if the situation is not contained , they remain vulnerable and their leaders who have been fighting Mr Gicharu’s atrocity may remain in jail after they were arrested by police while protesting about the latter but they could not afford a cash bail or bond of Sh 200,000 and are now rotting in prison.

‘’We are over 3,000 squatters living in Naivasha,Nakuru county who have lived in 16,000 acres that was allocated to us by former president Daniel Moi given our vulnerable situations.The squatters are drawn from Kenya,Uganda and Tanzania.Few months ago, Simon Gicharu who owns Mount Kenya University with the help of another tycoon Benjamin Kipkulei acting for Uhuru era politicians and rogue police officers used police and arrested some of our members,’’ reads part of the letter

‘’They are still in remand since they could not afford to pay a cash bail or bond that was being asked by the court of Sh 200,000.We kindly ask for your intervention because no one is listening to us and the media has been bribed not to air our grievances.We have been to the Nakuru Governor Susan Kihika office and county commissioner’s office but they seem to be compromised too.We have documents to show that this land is ours,’’ reads the letter further that is copied to the office of the Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.

Last month, the squatters had promised to match to Mount Kenya University campus in Nakuru to show their disappointment with Simon Gicharu for grabbing their land but they claim some leaders were bought off.

Locals who spoke to this publication said they have lived there for decades and in the year 2019,the government set up a local school for 3,000 squatters and promised them part of the land will be subdivided to them since they had no where to go.

Last month , Mr Gicharu who locals says landed last week with the chopper to inspect the eviction and subsequent uprooting of the crops where the houses were burnt.

‘’We have nowhere to go, Simon Gicharu who owns Mount Kenya university claims he bought this land from the government and now wants us out. He is using the police to defeat justice, the media has been compromised, they come to interview us and later get money from Gicharu and never air our grievances,’’ Mary Mwathi, 78, says in a video seen by this publication when the group camped at the office of Nakuru Governor Susan Kihika and Regional commissioner seeking an audience with them over the matter.

Most farmers claim the specific area they have called home is called Ndabibi and Kosovo.

Mr Gicharu has already funded the construction of a police post in the contested land as an effort to deter the squatters from resettling in.

The new development comes just days after Kikuyu Member of parliament Kimani Ichungwah and majority leader in the National assembly questioned how Mount Kenya university has been the only private university in Kenya that has been receiving the highest number of government sponsored students at the expense of other private and public universities.

The outspoken legislator noted that Simon Gicharu who owns the university behaves like a cartel to get higher student placement funded by taxpayers in exchange for bribes.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinTumblrWhatsappTelegramEmail

An electrician involved in a legal battle with a flower firm in Naivasha wants it ordered to pay him Ksh 9 million for unfair dismissal.

David Njite filed a suit at the Employment and Labor Relations Court in Nakuru and claims that he was employed by Rainforest Farmlands on permanent and pensionable basis in September 2014.

However, he claims he was sacked on April when he returned to work after two weeks of isolation after contracting Covid-19.

The company in defense said that in a disciplinary meeting held on April 6, 2021, and attended by Human Resource Manager, General Manager, Regional Technical Representative and Njite; it said that it had satisfactorily proven issues of laxity and negligence agaisnt him.

Reports say that the electrician was accused of failing to maintain an electric fence to the required standards, failing to reconcile electrical items sent for repairs, delaying to recover items from repair suppliers among others.

A letter signed by General Manager Camilo Serrano showed that Njite was ordered to vacate the staff quarters within 14 days. Njite, however, claims that the reasons for termination of his employment were outside his job description

“In April 2021, the claimant fell sick, and upon tests, it was confirmed that he had contracted Covid-19. That meant he would isolate from work. Upon getting back to work, he was issued with a termination letter,” read a part of the petition .

Njite accuses the Regional Technical Representative of convincing the General Manager to terminate his employment and that the reason for termination was baseless.

Njite said that a plot to terminate his employment started when he was issued a memo on March 14. It directed him to return all company tools to their store, and he complied.

He added that as he was returning the tools, the Regional Representative, without notice, searched his office and collected some machines, terming them tools not returned.

The firm denied allegations raised against it and claimed the termination of Njite’s employment was fair and based on valid grounds. ” The claimant’s (Njite) sit as pleaded is misconceived and should be dismissed with cost to the respondent (flower company).” read the response.

The company claims Njite, during his employment, was given a laptop and its bag, which he did not return upon dismissal.

It further claims that Njite is liable to it for damages of Sh 100,572 for the laptop, the bag, a wireless mouse, and foregone rent of Sh 60,000 for the period he had been in illegal occupation of cottage since April. The case will be mentioned on October 19.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinTumblrWhatsappTelegramEmail

Naivasha is being mentioned for the umpteenth time for both good and bad.

For the police, the area around Moi South Lake Road, the slams of Karagita in the outskirts of this town is a den of dangerous criminals.

According to them, it is the new pain for security personnel in the area.

The densely populated shanty town is prone to crime as it is a home of hundreds of low income families working in flower farms and job hunters.

The jobless youth spend their time chewing miraa and engage in idle gossip. Others spend most of their time in secluded joints taking illicit brews.

Its dark alleys are a no-go zone for the timid. Many have fell victims of mugging, while women attacked and raped by the intoxicated youths. This place is common with bhang peddling and smoking in the shabby settlements, a situation made worse COVID-19.

According to Nation Africa, four students in a local institution in the area are known for drug and alcohol addiction after being caught in possession of the hard drug. They were suspended and their situation is an evidence of the deep rooted problem that is rampant in most institutions of learning.

The Deputy County Commissioner Kisilu Mutua said that the area is chaotic and though it is hard, they are trying everything possible to bring stability. Three weeks ago, youths barricaded the road and blocked the Moi South Lake Road while protesting over the shooting of a fisherman.

The area remained a no-go zone for three days. Mr. Mutua said that the protests were permeated by goons who went on a looting spree in the vast area. They engaged the police in cat and mouse games for three days as the police lobbed teargas at them in an attempt to bring sanity.

Youths who depended on the natural resource for their daily living are now finding it hard since the government regulated fishing activities in a bid to curb illegal fishing. The Deputy County commissioner confirmed that crime has increased since they tightened the measures to control illegal fishing.

Chilling accounts of past cases indicate the area is inhabited by heartless group that killed, raped and committed other crimes. A recent one being the killing of a 30 year-old woman by her estranged lover. The man stabbed her in the stomach, and she died while undergoing treatment at the Naivasha Sub-county Hospital. The suspect was arrested while trying to flee from Naivasha.

A statement from a volunteer group known as Zion Singles said that at least six people, including five teenagers ailing from mental health related issues have been abused in the area. Mr. Mutua asked the area chiefs to be vigilant as social vices go up.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinTumblrWhatsappTelegramEmail

Naivasha Member of the County Assembly (MCA) Karanja Mburu has passed on after a grisly road accident.

The vocal MCA who is also a close ally to Deputy President William Ruto died in a road accident at Gilgil viewpoint near diatomite.

He succumbed to the injuries he sustained after he hit a tree and his vehicle rolled multiple times.

A number of his supporters have mourned him as a courageous politician and one of the key pointmen for Ruto in Nakuru county.

Here are some of their messages:

“Lakeview MCA Hon Karanja Mburu was involved in a road accident at Gilgil last night / early this morning. He Succumbed to death this Morning. Really sad Morning for Naivasha residents, Nakuru County at large and even Kenya in general. A really big blow to the Hustler Nation,” Simon Wachiuri said.

“Naivasha mca karanja Mburu ( Lakeview ward ) dies in a road accident at viewpoint Gilgil near diatomite. His vehicle hit a tree. He was one of the most vocal mcas . He ousted Wanyoike wanango in 2017. He is a close Ally of deputy president William Ruto,” added another Kenyan.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinTumblrWhatsappTelegramEmail

Residents of Kasarani estate in Naivasha were on Sunday Shocked after finding a 38-year-old woman identified as Purity Muthoni hanging on a rope in her sister’s house barely days after being diagnosed with cancer. 

According to a local daily, the woman had told friends that she did not want to undergo the pain other cancer victims go through. 

Emotions ran high as her kin and friends tried to come to terms with the incident which came a month after her diagnosis.

The mother of two had been undergoing treatment in different hospitals before she was diagnosed with the disease that has killed hundreds of Kenyans.

A neighbour, Ann Nyambura, said that Muthoni had been living in Olkalau where she developed a growth in one of her breasts.

“She started undergoing treatment in various hospitals and was misdiagnosed with other ailments until the final blow was delivered to her at Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi,” she said.

She said that the victim had been living with her sister who worked in one of the flower farms.

Naivasha OCPD Samuel Waweru said that the body had been collected and taken to Naivasha mortuary.

0 comment
1 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinTumblrWhatsappTelegramEmail