Nairobi Residents Protest After Tycoon Takes Over Police Station Land

Residents of Mihang’o in Embakasi East Constituency held protests against what they claimed was an orchestrated seizure of public land set aside for the construction of a court, main camp and police station.

The residents, who staged a peaceful protest on Sunday, accused an unnamed Nairobi tycoon of trying to encroach on their public land earmarked for housing security services.

The angry residents marched to where the land is located and demanded the National Land Commission (NLM) to intervene and put a stop to the impending land grab by an unknown magnate who had initiated a process of land conquest.

In their appeal, they asked the NLM, the committee responsible for public land management, to act quickly to prevent the tycoon from confiscating their public land in Mihang’o.

They further claimed that they were forced to deal with people the tycoon sent into the night to set beacons, raising eyebrows about his intentions.

“This place is intended to house the chief’s camp and our police. But there is a developer out of nowhere who we don’t even know has shown the intention to take our land,” said a resident.

They lamented that if the Land Commission does not intervene, insecurity in the area would increase as the unidentified tycoon has gained access to the land and carried out activities.

“It is purely up to us to organize ourselves. We as a community are going to protect that land and any other public land that is within the Mihang’o site,” promised another, stressing that they will continue to fight for their public facilities.

Public lands are intended for use by government agencies to serve the community, and any unauthorized access by other people could be an attempt to seize public lands, they pointed out.

“We will not allow anyone to come and take the land we have set aside as Mihang’o residents,” another added.

In Kenya, public land is governed by the National Land Policy and various laws, such as the Land Act (2012) and the Constitution of Kenya (2010), which stipulate that public land must be held in trust by the government for the people.

It comes barely five months after the Commission for Ethics and Corruption (EACC) launched an investigation into claims of fraudulent acquisition of a 5.12 hectare parcel of land in Karen owned by the Nairobi City County Government. In the incident, private developers are said to have taken over the land and are now demanding compensation of Ksh 1.28 billion from the City Hall.