KeNHA Demolishes Roadside Structures in Roysambu [Photos]

The Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) has demolished structures erected along the road reserve in Roysambu along the Thika Superhighway.

KeNHA carried out the demolitions on the night of Wednesday, March 4, and targeted stalls that encroached on the road reserve.

Photos and videos of the demolitions seen by Nairobileo.co.ke showed KeNHA’s excavators flattening the structures along the highway.

The demolitions come after the expiry of KeNHA’s notice to traders in Roysambu to vacate the road reserve.

In the notice dated Monday, January 9, the authority directed roadside traders operating at Roysambu in both directions to vacate.

KeNHA instructed all traders operating within the affected sections to remove their wares from the road reserve within seven days.

"Kenya National Highways Authority wishes to notify all roadside traders along the Thika Superhighway at the Roysambu (Both directions) and Githurai (Nairobi direction) sections to clear their wares from the road reserve within seven (7) days of this notice," the notice read.

The authority explained that the clearance is intended to create space for the construction of bus bays to improve public transport and ease congestion.

On Wednesday, February 18 night, KeNHA carried out demolitions in Githurai 45, leaving several traders who had erected structures on the road reserve counting losses.

Police officers were also deployed to the area to provide security and oversee the demolition of the roadside structures.

Following the demolition, KeNHA explained that the structures had created safety concerns in the busy market area, contributing to accidents over time.

"The structures had encroached onto the road reserve, posing significant safety risks to thousands of motorists and pedestrians within the busy market area. Over time, this section has recorded numerous road safety incidents - a trend the Authority is firmly committed to reverse," the statement read.

Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua slammed the government over the demolitions, describing them as senseless and inhuman.

Gachagua claimed that KeNHA’s actions were a serious violation of human dignity, adding that they reflect a government that has lost all sense of compassion.

"It is both senseless and inhuman for this regime to orchestrate extreme brutality and cowardice by deploying hundreds of police officers in the dead of night to destroy the property of traders in Githurai and to terrorize innocent citizens. Such actions are a grave affront to human dignity and reflect a regime that has lost all sense of compassion and justice," he said.