Majengo residents can no longer sleep in peace as deadly fires break out simultaneously across the estate. There are hot questions about the recent wave of night fires in Majengo, Nanyuki.
The most recent fire happened just yesterday.
It destroyed property worth millions, leaving vulnerable victims who are also frustrated by Covid 19’s economic effects.
There are still no answers for the over 1000 residents who lost their homes and livelihoods in the recent night fires.
However, there are claims that these fires were set deliberately to force native Majengo residents out and make way for private developers.
These rumors are spreading steadily from one end of town to the other.
Overall, the fires have been consistent, destroying assets worth millions of shillings affecting countless landlords who are still paying off bank loans.
Unanswered Questions
The fire tragedies have left people with millions of unanswered questions, in addition to major losses.
Arson is high on the list of suspected causes.
Why do fires occur at such obscenely late hours of the night, when everybody is sound asleep?
Why is it that fire fighters are so late to arrive?
Who is responsible for the fires and what is their motivation?
Residents of Majengo are now forced to spend their nights in panic because no one knows when the next fire will occur.
One of the residents laments that unknown people have been raising false fire alarms at night.
Various previous attempts by private developers to take over this strategic piece of land bear adds weight to the theory of evictions being the cause of the fires.
2017 Eviction Attempts
Majengo residents were forced to cut shot their early morning sleep after hired goons stormed the estate.
They were accompanied by police and had one target in mind: to demolish their homes..
Plots in Majengo have been the source of conflict between owners and purported private investors who claim to have purchased the plots.
On this particular day, a private developer from Nyeri arrived at 5:30 a.m. without informing the residents and began demolishing the colonial mud houses.
Residents scrambled from their beds amidst the confusion to try to save their possessions while the hired goons did what they do best – made sure that no stone was left unturned.
They left a trail of devastation in their wake.
Nothing was spared, including the frail-looking fence that acted as the boundary wall.
Majengo Residents Reactions
When other locals banded together in protest of the demolition, they began hurling stones at the heavily muscled goons.
That, however, did not deter them in the least.
They demolished everything as if to show the enraged residents who was in charge and who was calling the shots.
According to locals, it is illegal to demolish a house when people are already inside because it endangers human life.
Word Going Round
Residents of Majengo continue to believe that the fires were not unintentional, but rather a deliberate attempt by a person or individuals to evict them from the area.
The unexplained fires in Majengo have been a source of controversy.
An icy relationship between the Majengo slum dwellers and immediate estate residents who blame Majengo for drugs, prostitution and crime has apparently fueled the tussle.
Some residents took to social media to supoort the idea that Majengo residents must be evicted as our team saw post reactions in the Nanyuki My City My Town Mwisho Wa Reli Facebook group by the name.
Our thoughts are with those who have lost homes, property and treasured belongings in this fire
This Is Laikipia Team