The Mountain Journal
The colonial white settlers evicted,
murdered tens of fore fathers to claim part of their ancestral land now under
control of Delmonte Kenya Limited.
After they were evicted the settlers
planted sisal in the early twenties and thirties before it was converted to
pineapple plantations.
Today,
Kandara Residents Association
led by Geoffrey Kairu is pursuing land for the interest of the displaced
forefathers through their descendants’ majority squeezed in Gachagi
village near
Thika.
According to historians, after they were evicted brutally , Kairu says
they were made slaves in their farms.
“Our grandparents and parents , who
survived mau mau war were finally pushed upward past Makenji and others forced
to free to Ndunyu ya Ngewa ( Thika town) to give room for peanaples plantation
by Kenya Canners in during the emergency period,” said Kairu..
As a result of forceful
eviction, generation to generation have never had good education and good jobs,
majorities still living in Thika slums and small plots in Kihiu Mwiri, small
farms in Makenji,kabati among others.
This is what has brought the
current situation between the Company and the locals.
The Company must respect
locals rights to live and give back Land to original owners for the
future coexistence.
Delmonte is our land, our heritage
and our future existence.
www.themountainjournal.co.ke
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