Court stops eviction of Nubians by roads authority

The High Court has temporarily stopped the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) from evicting members of the Nubian community, which is likely to halt the construction of the Southern Bypass.

The petitioners argue that the road construction is being done without their knowledge and participation of the members of the Nubian Community adding that no information was passed to the community, save that they heard that a road was passing through Kibra.

“A conservatory order restraining the respondents either by themselves, their agents or otherwise howsoever from threatened illegal eviction of the Nubian Community from Lindi, Mashimoni and Kambi Aluru for purposes of building a road through Kibra is hereby granted, Nairobi,” ruled Justice Samson Okongo.

They argued that houses in Lindi, Mashimoni and Kambi Aluru have been marked and beacons placed in houses without any prior notification. They further claim that Kibra is an ancestral land of the Nubian and  they are entitled to enjoy quiet and peaceful possession of the said land.

In an affidavit by Abdulmajid Ramadhan – a member of the community, the Nubian community residing in Lindi, Mashimoni and Kambi Aluru are due to suffer loss of their ancestral land and irreparable damages if the respondents are permitted to proceed with the road construction.

The Nubians argue that on the 28th of July this year, the construction company –H Young Company Limited, notified them that they would enter Kibra in the month of August by all means and demolish their houses so as to construct the road. This, according to the petitioners, will and amounts to infringement of their fundamental rights.

Kenya Urban Roads Authority, the Attorney General, the National Land Commission, the National Environment and Management Authority and H Young Company Limited have been named as respondents.

The Nairobi Southern Bypass starts from the junction of Mombasa Road interchange and ends at Kabete – Limuru Road at Kikuyu Town.

The road goes through the Nairobi National Park westward through Lang’ata Road, Ngong Road, Motoine River, Dagoretti Road, Thogoto Road then passes over the Ondiri River and a railway line towards Kikuyu Town.

The Bypass is partly funded by the Government of Kenya through a partnership with China’s EXIM Bank at a cost of Ksh 18 billion and is expected to decongest the city by diverting a substantial volume of traffic from Uhuru Highway, increase mobility of traffic and connect the residents of the area.