Athi River subcounty residents have been cautioned against encroaching public spaces including land and road reserves.
Area deputy county commissioner Patrick Mwangi said it was high time the locals refrained from their bad deeds and instead followed the law to restore order and sanity not only in the subcounty but across the county.
Mwangi told the traders operating along Airport Road in the Syokimau area within the Mlolongo division to move out to avoid forcible evictions.
He was responding to a long-time tussle between the traders and a section of Syokimau Residents Association members over alleged road encroachment by the former.
“Those people have been given a notice to move out of the road. Let them vacate so that the road’s construction can be completed,” Mwangi said on Monday.
He said a road can’t be turned into a market.
Mwangi said government officials in the region won’t praise the residents for bad deeds.
“Those people should be told that the notice issued by the government has expired and the road will be cleared anytime for its construction to proceed and be concluded,” he said.
He said the encroachment by the traders along the road had stalled its construction.
The administrator said encroachment of roads for trading like in the Syokimau case was not only interfering with the implementation of government projects but equally exposing citizens to lots of risks.
“It’s the government’s role to allocate spaces for citizens to do business. But, this doesn’t include putting them on the road so that they get injured through accidents,” Mwangi said.
“How many times have we seen people being killed and injured by vehicles that have lost control in our roads across the country,” Mwangi poised.
Mwangi said they will try as much as they can to ensure they improve the subcounty to be better than the way they have found it.
He on Friday held a leadership public baraza with leadership from the Mlolongo division, a meeting held at the Mlolongo chief’s office.
Mwangi urged the leaders; which included a divisional security team headed by the area assistant county commissioner, boda boda, nyumba kumi, women, youth, people living with disabilities, traders, residents associations leaders, and general members of the public to support the government so as to make the subcounty better as matters security, socio–economic development is concerned.
He warned that his administration won’t tolerate incidences of crime and hooliganism as witnessed in the last Azimio demonstrations.
“We won’t praise you for bad deeds,” Mwangi warned.
