Govt revokes title deed of controversial land in Loresho
The government has revoked the title deed of a controversial piece of land at Loresho estate in Nairobi which was allegedly grabbed by a private developer.
Several leaders and government officials among them Inspector General Joseph Boinnet, Nairobi Senator Mike Mbuvi ‘Sonko’, National Land Commission (NLC) chair Mohammad Swazuri and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) CEO Halakhe Waqo visited the site on Monday to enforce the court order issued on Friday.
The four-acre piece of land has been a subject of protracted court battle between local leaders and the private developer, Shital Bhandari, leading to the High Court.
Bhandari is accused of defying a High Court ruling stopping him from setting up any structures on the piece of land which reportedly belongs to the Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company.
The land in contention has a water reservoir that serves the United National Headquarters in Gigiri, the entire Gigiri area, Loresho, University of Nairobi, Lower Kabete and other parts of Nairobi.
Last week, Senator Mbuvi, accompanied by Westlands MP Tim Wanyonyi, Kitusuru MCA Alvin Olando, Gigiri OCPD Vitalis Otieno among other officials stopped construction work which was already underway on the piece of land after the High Court granted their request.
According to Senator Mbuvi, the private developer failed to adhere to the High Court ruling ordering that he vacates the land and instead chose to circumvent the law and seek approval from the Magistrate’s Court.
“We went to the magistrate to seek orders stopping the construction work on this piece of land and we are glad that the court granted our request,” he said.
The Senator noted that he had also tabled the matter to the Senate where officials of the National Land Commission (NLC) had been summoned.
In a letter issued last week, NLC had stated: “By copy of this letter the Chief Land Registrar revokes the titles therein, directed by the Courts.”
“The County Government of Nairobi and the National Construction Authority are asked to stop any construction on the property and to stop any activities on the land forthwith.”
Westlands MP Tim Wanyonyi praised the court for stopping the construction work saying there is need to stop land grabbing in Nairobi.
“We will work with the public to stop land grabbing in Nairobi. It all begins with grabbing a small piece of land before escalating to grabbing schools, hospitals and markets. We will name and shame land grabbers to ensure an end to this vice because we know them and we know where they are,” he said.
“The title deed that the private developer claims to possess is fake and its origin must be investigated.”
Wanyonyi stated that, being a prime land, Westlands had become an area of interest land grabbers who have made previous attempts to grab land at Westgate, Hospital Hill, and Oshwal Primary among other areas.
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