Opposition leaders accuse State of enabling land grabbing and extrajudicial killings
They claim the government is using force to ensure the 6,800 acres of land in Narok is grabbed, yet it historically belongs to the local community
Opposition leaders have accused President William Ruto’s government of enabling land grabbing, extrajudicial killings and suppression of divergent voices in the country.
The leaders warned that the acts by the government would plunge the country into lawlessness.
Led by Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka, People’s Liberation Party leader Martha Karua, former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, former Public Service CS Justin Muturi, former Defence PS Torome Saitoti, DAP-Kenya Party Leader Eugene Wamalwa and former Agriculture CS Mithika Linturi, they cited the killing of five people following the clash between the police and residents of Angata Barrikoi in Narok yesterday, claiming that it was sponsored by the government in a move to dispossess the locals of their land.
They claimed that the government is using force to ensure the 6,800 acres of land is grabbed, yet it historically belongs to the local community.
“This tragedy is not an isolated incident but part of a growing pattern of state-enabled violence, land dispossession, and forceful displacement by the Ruto regime,” they said.
“Organised syndicates, operating with the protection of heavy-handed police forces and a compromised justice system, are fraudulently preparing ownership documents to forcefully and illegally expropriate land from rightful owners,” they added.
The leaders compared yesterday’s incident to previous once in Mavoko and Ndabibi, arguing that it is a violation of human and land rights guaranteed in the 2010 Constitution.
“With Ruto’s chequered past involving forced land displacements, we remind him that such acts are crimes against humanity. We are committed to escalating these cases to the International Criminal Court (ICC),” the leaders stated in their statement.
They called on the security agencies to uphold their constitutional duties, urging them to serve Kenyans.
The opposition leaders also referenced the BBCInvestigative Documentary, Blood Parliament, which aired over the past weekend, adding that it confirmed their long-held fears about state-backed killings of peaceful protesters.
They stated that the BBC piece indicated that the Gen-Z killings were premeditated and carried out by a clandestine unit operating within security agencies under orders from senior state officials.
“There is a handpicked killer squad drawn from various security agencies operating outside the chain of command of legitimate institutions,” they claimed.
Calling the Ruto-led administration a gangster regime, the opposition has further expressed their concerns that the relevant government agencies are not investigating and prosecuting those involved.
“We are appalled by the deliberate reluctance of relevant government agencies to investigate and prosecute these atrocities. Kenyans have lost all trust in these accountability mechanisms and therefore call for the formation of an investigative commission comprising both state and non-state actors to bring these individuals to justice,”,” they said, singling out the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) for failing to hold rogue officers accountable.
