Sonko flattens Marble Arch hotel parking, marks another section for demolition

Nairobi County government has earmarked a section of Marble Arch hotel located in Nairobi’s River road area for demolition.

In a notice dated December 21, 2018, the county government has given the owners and management of the hotel 14 days effective Friday to stop further development of the property.

“You are hereby required to provide development approvals to City Hall for verification including occupation certificate,” read the notice.

This even after the county government defied its suspension of demolitions in the City after President Uhuru Kenyatta intervened.

Bulldozers stormed the hotel’s parking lot and flattened it.

According to the county government, the earmarked section of the hotel was developed without permission or approvals from the county.

This comes even as a heated recorded conversation between Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko and Marble Arch owner businessman Mike Maina went viral.

In the phone call, Governor Sonko is heard insulting the businessman over the recent demolition of Nyama Villa Estate in Kayole Estate, Nairobi.

The Governor was also heard threatening the businessman saying that he would come after his property which he termed as illegally constructed.

This comes just a day after the government has suspended all demolitions that were to take place across the country.

In a statement, the Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua said a decision to stop the removal of illegal structures was arrived at after talks with State agencies and other stakeholders.

On Monday, Sonko announced a step up  campaign to reclaim grabbed public parking bays within the city’s Central Business District (CBD).

In a statement, Sonko further put on notice land grabbers in the capital warning that buildings on grabbed public land will be demolished.

“We have no room for land grabbers in Nairobi and my administration will not relent on its quest to reclaim all grabbed public land in Nairobi as promised during the elections,” stated Sonko.

Among the parking bays that have been repossessed by the Nairobi City County Government, according to the statement, is one between Nyayo House and Intercontinental hotel which had allegedly been converted into a private property.

The parking bay along Haile Selassie Avenue next to Shell Petrol station where the alleged grabber had installed parking payment machines has also been repossessed.