Settlement, Evictions and their Effects

The physical and socio-economic developments taking place in Kenya though laudable have displaced poor people who were eking livelihoods in trust lands. The displacement of poor people is a major concern as they fail to take cognizance of the human rights of such people and in the process result in their further impoverishment. In Kwa Vonza/Mikuyuni sub-ward, Kitui County, in an area covering over 15,000 acres, institutional developments have displaced about 4000 persons. These displacements rendered the people landless, homeless, and jobless and dispatched them back to join the rest of the region's Kamba people which suffer from shocking levels of poverty and lack of social facilities. This study therefore examined the effects of the displacements and the mitigation measures taken in view of the protective guidelines stipulated by The United Nations (2007:6) and enshrined in the proposed Kenyan bill on Evictions and Settlement (2012) as well as the Kenyan Constitution on the bill of rights and land (GOK, 2010: Chapters 4 part 2(40) and 5 part 1963) which applied to all vulnerable and affected persons irrespective of whether they were holders of title to the land or not. It was als