Friends of the Rail Forum

Kibera residents uproot railway line

By KIBIWOTT KOROSS and MOSES DOLA
Daily Nation
Posted Wednesday, April 15 2009 at 20:55

Residents of Kibera slums in Nairobi on Wednesday uprooted part of a railway line cutting across the slum to protest at the disconnection of illegal power lines.

Police and residents engaged in running battles for the better part of the afternoon, as the people tried to stop Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) employees from doing their work.

Police used teargas and fired gunshots in the air to disperse the crowds. They responded with stones.

Lynching threat

When the officers from KPLC arrived to disconnect the power, the residents started throwing stones at them, and they requested security from Serang’ombe chiefs camp.

“Things were getting out of hand,” said a KPLC employee who gave his name as Polycarp. The crowd threatened to lynch them should they continue to dismantle a transformer outside the Kibera Olympic Primary School, he said.

But the officers who rushed to the rescue were overwhelmed by the crowd surging from both sides of the road, and another team was called in from Kilimani Police Station. The arrival of the new officers sparked more violence.

When the mob was cordoned off the main transformer, it threatened to uproot the railway and accused police of “spoiling” the good life they were enjoying.

By the time of going to press, about 20 metres of the railway had been uprooted, by the mob, which asked police to go to Migingo Island instead.

The island is at the centre of an ownership row between Kenya and Uganda.

It sounds like the attempts to disconnect the power were derailed!

Unfortunately it's not the first time this track has been ripped up. It happens periodically whenever there is unrest in Kibera.

Residents back off over rail

By DAVE OPIYO
Daily Nation
Posted Monday, April 27 2009 at 20:25

In Summary

* RVR engineers on site after days of running battles with riotous youths

Engineers on Monday started repairing a section of the Kenya-Uganda railway line which was vandalised last week by a mob protesting against Uganda’s presence on Migingo Island.

The Rift Valley Railways engineers finally managed to gain access to the troubled Kibera site and started the reconstruction process, which is expected to be completed Tuesday.

Residents had last week thwarted two attempts by the engineers to repair the vandalised sections of the railway line, a key transport route for goods destined for Uganda from the port of Mombasa.

When the line was first damaged, the crowd had been protesting against Kenya Power and Lighting Company’s disconnection of illegal power supply to the slum.

Heavily vandalised

RVR Principal Public Relations Officer, Ms Judy Achar, on Monday confirmed to the Nation that the repair had started.

“We have already completed repairs on one the areas that was heavily vandalised by the youths. We will be proceeding to the Gatwikira area to complete the remaining work tomorrow (Tuesday),” said Ms Achar in a telephone interview.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Sunday visited the slum and appealed to the residents to observe peace as the State works to sort out the island’s ownership dispute.

His visit came only a day after a one-day ultimatum was issued to Ugandan nationals living in Kibera to leave unless the Ugandan soldiers manning the one-acre, Nile Perch-rich island are withdrawn.

The threats came moments after the residents’ attempt to hold a procession to the Ugandan Embassy in Nairobi were thwarted by police officers.

In the confrontation, the protesters lit bonfires and blocked roads leading to the slum as they engaged in running battles with the law enforcers. They accused President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda of aggression.

“If the Ugandan army does not remove its flag from Migingo, then all Ugandan nationals residing in Kibera should prepare to leave, latest Monday,” said Mr Maurice Otieno, one of the residents who led the protests.

“We shall not change our position until Premier Raila Odinga addresses us,” he added.

Hard time

But the PM, while addressing a rally at the Kamukunji Grounds in the slums, told the youths to desist from further vandalisation of the railway line as this will not resolve the row.

“You have made your point and the world has heard.... Please, don’t destroy the railway line any more,” urged the PM.

Mr Raila, who had a hard time convincing the residents, described the row over the island as a ‘small issue’, saying Kenyans should focus more on ‘the more important issues affecting them’.

He said the country’s good relations with Uganda will not be strained by the impasse.

“I am asking you to give us the chance to resolve this matter. We shall inform you accordingly if we are unable to do so,” said the PM amidst chants of “Migingo! Migingo!” from the residents.

The ODM party leader said everyone knew to which country the disputed island belonged, including President Museveni himself.

“(He) is only teasing you over this issue. I am sure that, in two months’ time, we shall resolve the matter,” he said.