NAIROBI, Kenya — Fresh details have emerged linking Friday morning’s protests that paralysed traffic along Thika Road in Pangani to a demolition exercise that displaced more than 50 families and left dozens homeless.
Residents said they took to the streets after bulldozers demolished homes and businesses during an early morning operation, prompting demonstrators to barricade sections of the highway near the Pangani footbridge.
According to residents, the demolition began at dawn when a group of armed youth accompanied by police officers entered the settlement.
“We were shocked to be woken up by a group of armed youth and police officers. Many people were injured during the operation,” one resident told journalists.
The affected families said the demolitions left them without shelter or an alternative place to relocate, forcing them to stage demonstrations to draw public attention to their plight.
Another resident claimed they had faced months of intimidation before the demolitions.
“The chief has been telling us to relocate even though we have lived here for years. Since January, they have been sending people to threaten us, steal from us and destroy our shops,” the protester said.
Video footage from the scene showed thick smoke rising near the highway as protesters blocked sections of the road, while motorists remained stranded in heavy traffic stretching along the busy corridor.
Witnesses also reported seeing some protesters carrying machetes and other crude weapons, raising concerns over the safety of motorists caught in the disruption.
The demonstrators questioned why they were allegedly not given sufficient notice or adequate time to vacate before the demolition exercise commenced.
The demolished structures are understood to stand on land that has been the subject of a long-running ownership dispute. However, authorities had not issued an official statement explaining the circumstances surrounding the operation by the time of publication.
Police officers were later deployed to disperse the protesters and reopen the highway, restoring the flow of traffic after hours of disruption.
The incident adds to a series of disputes over evictions and demolitions in Nairobi, where affected residents have repeatedly raised concerns over notice periods, resettlement arrangements and the implementation of court orders in contested land cases.