President William Ruto has personally intervened to stop the demolition squads tearing through Mukuru Kwa Njenga, offering a temporary lifeline to thousands of terrified families.

The eviction, purportedly to pave way for the construction of the "Catherine Ndereba Road," had turned the settlement into a war zone of teargas and rubble. The President’s directive comes after a rare public outcry from Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja, who termed the exercise "inhumane" and a violation of dignity. It highlights the chaotic disconnect between the National Government’s infrastructure goals and the reality of urban poverty.

The Court Order Ignored

What makes this eviction particularly egregious is the blatant disregard for the rule of law. Justice Christine A. Ochieng of the Environment and Land Court had issued a conservatory order halting any demolitions until the matter was heard. The bulldozers rolled in anyway.

• The Human Cost: Mothers with newborns were left sleeping in the cold as their shanties were flattened at dawn without notice.
• The Political Fallout: Governor Sakaja’s public rebuke of the operation suggests a rift within the ruling coalition regarding the handling of Nairobi’s delicate informal settlements. "These are Kenyans, not terrorists," Sakaja declared, holding spent cartridges collected from the scene.
• The Road: The 30-meter wide road is intended to decongest the area, but residents argue that development without resettlement is merely displacement.

Development vs. Dignity

The President’s order is a reprieve, but it is not a solution. The tension between modernizing Nairobi’s infrastructure and protecting the rights of its most vulnerable citizens remains unresolved. Mukuru Kwa Njenga sits on prime land that has been the subject of vicious ownership battles for decades.

"We voted for a hustler government," shouted one displaced resident, clutching a mattress. "Is this how you treat hustlers?" The question hangs heavy over the administration. While the President has stopped the bleeding, the wound remains open. A structured resettlement plan is now non-negotiable.

As the dust settles, the residents of Mukuru are rebuilding their fragile lives, wary that the reprieve might be short-lived. In the slums of Nairobi, a presidential directive is powerful, but land cartels are persistent.