At the heart of Nakuru City, on Mburu Gichua Road, and just a stone’s throw from the busy Nakuru-Eldoret highway, stands Kanu House.
For decades, it served as the headquarters of Kenya’s Independence party, Kanu in the South Rift region.
The two-storey building, which played a pivotal role during President Daniel Arap Moi’s regime, is once again in the spotlight—but this time for very different reasons.
Kanu House, which was once a symbol of power and to some, a site of terror, now faces the auctioneer’s hammer over an outstanding electricity bill.
Kenya Power is seeking to recover Sh212,816,986, with interest accruing from the date of filing the suit until full payment.
The power utility company initially filed a lawsuit in 2004 against the party’s office-bearers, accusing Kanu of defaulting on electricity payments for eight years.
On August 7, 2009, Judge J.B. Havelock delivered the first judgment on the matter.
More recently on November 30, 2023, Justice Josephine Wayua allowed Kenya Power to proceed with the sale of the property known as Nakuru Municipality Block 9/31. The public auction is set for November 4, 2024.
Kanu, through lawyer Benard Kipkoech Ngetich, has filed an urgent suit before a Nakuru court to stop the impending auction.
The party contends that the 2009 judgment is now time-barred and should not be enforced.
They also argue that the outcome of an appeal they had filed at the Court of Appeal should be awaited before any auction proceeds.
Should the auction go through, it will mark a significant blow to the once-dominant Independence party, as Kanu risks losing one of its most iconic properties.
The building is not just any ordinary structure—it is a stark reminder of a controversial chapter in Kenya’s history.
While the Gen Z generation born in the late 1990s and 2000s may know little about Kanu House, older residents particularly those who lived through the Nyayo era have vivid memories of its dark past.
During President Moi’s rule, the building was infamous as a notorious torture chamber.
Many people, including dissidents and innocent civilians, found themselves inside its walls where they were subjected to brutal beatings and incarceration.
Nakuru Human Rights Network director David Kuria and former Subukia MP Koigi Wa Wamwere are some of those who personally experienced torture in Kanu House.
“I was tortured there several times and every time I pass by the building, it sends shivers down my body. I carry physical and psychological wounds from that place,” Mr Kuria recalled.
He says at the time, he was a founding member of the Release Political Prisoners (RPP) pressure group.
Second liberation hero Wamwere also suffered at the hands of Nyayo-era operatives.
“I was arrested many times and tortured in Kanu House. It was a house of terror for anyone who opposed the regime,” Mr Wamwere said in a past interview.
For many dissidents and innocent civilians who crossed paths with the Kanu regime’s Special Branch, Kanu House became synonymous with fear.
Many were ferried there, beaten, and later charged in court on trumped-up charges. To avoid further torture, some pleaded guilty to crimes they did not commit.
“During the Kanu regime, Kanu House was dreaded. Kanu Youth Wingers would arrest people passing by and force them into the torture chambers sometimes just for not stopping when the Youth Wingers were lowering the Kanu flag,” recalled 80-year-old Gilbert Kabage on Wednesday.
The building also served as a command centre for Kanu’s top leadership, with powerful figures in the party ruling Nakuru District with an iron fist from its walls.
As Kanu battles to save the building from being sold to settle its electricity debt, the fate of this once-dominant party’s symbol hangs in the balance as it battles to save the iconic building from the auctioneers’ hammer.
Source link : https://nation.africa/kenya/counties/nakuru/iconic-kanu-house-set-to-go-under-hammer-over-sh212m-electricity-bill–4800738
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Publish date : 2024-10-23 12:19:26
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