Hundreds of families living in Buxton Estate in Mombasa County were left in the cold and confused after the Governor Hassan Joho county government and a private developer demolished their homes.

The demolitions come just three days after High Court judge, Justice Sila Munyao, threw out a petition filed to bar the construction of 1,900 houses in the area to the tune of Sh6 billion.

Residents of Buxton Estate on Saturday morning woke up to the rude shock of bulldozers and county government askaris bringing down their houses at the location where they had resided for decades.

Buxton Estate demolition. PHOTO/COURTESY

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Those affected could not salvage much in the confusion and panic that ensued when the demolition squad came calling, with many terming the move illegal and complaining that they had nowhere to go.

Mvita Member of Parliament Abdulswamad Shariff Nassir has condemned the demolitions and blamed the Joho government and the private developer of disobeying the law in their hurried demolitions.

The residents insist a court in Mombasa had given them at least two months to relocate from Buxton Estate and faulted the county and developer for demolishing their houses three days after the ruling.

Some of the parents being evicted from Buxton lamented that their children who are candidates awaiting KCSE and KCPE national examinations would be adversely affected after losing their homes.

The court on Friday directed for an interparty hearing of a case which challenges the upcoming building project, but failed to stop the project from continuing until the petition is heard and determined.