The Kitui first family has hit the headlines again, in another land grabbing saga.
A trader in Kitui town’s Kunda Kindu stage is crying foul, after what he’s termed as forceful eviction attempts by governor Malombe from his land.
According to documents in our possession, the disputed piece of land in the New Market, plot number 79B, was allocated to Mr. Dominic Siasa Malusi in June 2003 by the Kitui Municipal Council.
Mr. Malusi has been religiously paying his land rates as the owner of the said plot since. However, governor Malombe and his family stepped in last week to claim ownership of the land, and promptly began constructing a perimeter wall around the parcel of land.
Things have moved from nasty to ugly, with the governor’s step-brother Dan Kithuku leading a forced eviction from the land. In a show of might, the brother is reported to have hired armed goons who stormed the plot yesterday, vandalizing and looting the property of Mr. Malusi, as his staff and family fled for their lives.
In what appears as a collusion between the governor and the Kitui Police Station, despite four of the armed goons having been arrested in yesterday’s incident, they were released under unclear circumstances in the night, and never arraigned in court today; much to the chagrin of Mr. Malusi, his family and staff, who had recorded statements with the police and were expecting justice to be served.
When the Kitui Newspaper reporter visited the scene earlier today, construction was still ongoing, despite the site having no sign post stating the contractor, engineer, developer and NCA/Physical Planning approvals as required by law. The existing business premises owned by Mr. Malusi also lay in ruins, a testimony of the brutality meted upon it by Malombe’s goons yesterday.
Coincidentally, the governor’s step brother also made a call to Mr. Malusi s son, threatening him and going on record that there’s nothing they can do to prevent the first family from possessing and developing the land.
“Hamuwezi shindana na sisi, hamna io pesa,” boasted Dan Kithuku.(You can’t compete with us, you don’t have the money)
Speaking to our reporter, Carol Mueni, the guestrooms’ attendant who survived the goons’attack yesterday recounted the harrowing experience she went through as Dan Kithuku sat in a government double-cabin outside and watched animatedly.
“They were wielding swords, pangas and other crude weapons,” she recounted tearfully. “They ordered all the guests out and then proceeded to knock down walls and Rob the place as I was forced to watch,” she added, not believing what the goons could have done to her had the police not shown up in time.
Now Mr. Malusi is crying for justice, as he stares at the imminent loss of his land for 18 years to the all-powerful first family.
“If the governor can just wake up and decide to forcefully possess a poor man’s land at will, then in whose hands are we safe?” He lamented.
Kitui Newspaper 