Kidero wins round one of battle for grabbed land with KDF
Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero is a happy man after the High Court on Thursday issued orders stopping the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) from interfering with the building of Mihango-Kayole road link in Embakasi, Nairobi.
Dr Kidero said he was with the High Court’s orders and went ahead to blame the military of invading the land without due recourse to any compensation.
“I am pleased that after my concerted efforts Kayole residents have received justice after the court ordered the road joining Mihango from the Eastern bypass which joins Kangundo road through Matopeni and which had been fenced off by Department of Defence reverts back to the public,” Kidero said.
According to Kidero, the City Council bought 5,000 acres of land from Kayole Estate back in 1971. In the 90s, the army invaded it and took 3,000 acres without due recourse to any compensation and four weeks ago, they blocked the remaining 2,000 acres that passed through the road which has greatly inconvenienced Kayole residents and other road users.
In October, residents of Utawala barricaded the Eastern Bypass in protest against KDF’s after they woke up to find Mihango and Kayole roads closed and trenches dug by KDF across the road without giving them a notice rendering it impassable and inaccessible.
ABUSE OF POWER
In court papers, City Hall argued that the Chief of Defence Forces Samson Mwathethe and Defence CS Raychelle Omamo have “unilaterally, illegally and in utter display of abuse of power and deploying its officers along the road link to bar the county government from repairing it.
Addressing journalists at City Hall on Thursday, Governor Kidero said the closure had affected more than a million people as it serves as a link between Embakasi Central and Embakasi South.
He said the county government has sued KDF and the Cabinet Secretary for Interior for blocking the maintenance of the road.
“The residents have suffered a lot since the closure, with school children not able to access respective schools, residents cannot access health care, and there is increased insecurity as robbers have a hideout in the trench,” said Dr Kidero.
Kidero said the road was under construction by the county government at a cost of Sh264 million and ordered Transport Chief officer Michael Ngare to immediately move to the site and fill the trench.
