[Source: Daily Nation, by Millicent Mwololo]
Owners of godowns built on Jomo Kenyatta International Airport land are unmoved even after the lapse of a demolition notice by the National Buildings Inspectorate (NBI).
The inspectorate secretary Moses Nyakiongora gave the godown owners a 14-day notice on September 25, but the owners have stayed put claiming that they have ownership documents.
The notice indicates that the godown owners did not seek approval from the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA). According to documents the Nation saw, the buildings pose a danger because they are on the flight path.
A report by the Parliamentary Public Investments Committee (PIC) shows that individuals acquired 67 per cent of the airport’s land before it was surveyed.
The Commissioner of Lands allocated the land to 60 individuals and companies, according to the report.
Manchester Outfitters, whose fence the committee recommended that it be pulled down, has since built a godown on the plot. The company, which manufactures garments, has put up a building called Manchester Knits on the property located off Mombasa Road.
According to the committee, Manchester Outfitters’ plot LR 209/24092 is on the flight path.
The committee recommended that the plot be repossessed and the fence demolished.
A letter from KAA had also opposed the company’s encroachment on its land. The authority concluded that any proposed development on the land should not be approved.
The PIC report on the Accounts of State Corporations also listed illegally allocated KAA land in Kisumu, Eldoret, Malindi and Ukunda where a total of 972.36 hectares was lost.
PIC observed that the Commissioner of Lands purported to retain control, administration and power to allocate KAA land before it was surveyed. Consequently, the commissioner allocated the land without consulting the authority.
The Ministry of Lands is also said to own plot LR 209/24088, which is on the flight path.
The PIC report recommends that illegal structures be demolished and the land repossessed.
While the land carved out is about two-thirds of the total land originally owned by the airports authority, KAA does not give an adequate explanation as to who owns the parcels, the committee concludes.
[Full article on: Daily Nation, by Millicent Mwololo]
