Court declines to grant orders stopping Kayole demolitions

Owners of buildings in Kayole, Nairobi whose demolitions were halted in December following intervention by Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko were dealt a major blow after the Environment and Lands Court in Nairobi ruled that the demolitions were legal.

In his ruling, Justice Bernard Eboso insisted that a 2014 judgment requiring those on the land to vacate is still in force.

The ruling comes after 20 families whose houses were demolished in December 2018 in Kayole moved to court seeking compensation from Nairobi businessman Mike Maina through his company Muthithi Investment Limited.

The victims argue that a notice of intended eviction should have been issued to them through the set out legal process.

The applicants also stated that the eviction was carried out in the wee hours of the morning in darkness and without regard to the interest of children, women, and persons with disability.

In an affidavit, the tenants claimed the demolitions carried out in December last year were done in spite of the hue and cry from their tenants.

The applicants further argued that they are entitled to reasonable notice before an eviction is carried out.

According to them, the notice period must not be less than three months by law and personally served on the affected by notification.