Probe starts on Syokimau house demolitions

Owners of residential houses built on the JKIA flight path ignored repeated quit notices issued by the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA), public records now show.

Demolitions had taken place at the Kyang’ombe slums before finally moving to the middle-class Syokimau at the weekend.

The decision to disregard the notices may weaken the owners’ quest for compensation, but may result in legal action being taken against government officials who knowingly facilitated the transfer of land to private developers illegally.

Public notices in national newspapers indicate that KAA issued quit notices to owners of properties in Syokimau, Kyang’ombe Village at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and Mitumba Village at the Wilson Airport, which is also set for demolition according to sources in the provincial administration.

The notices had required the home owners to halt any development on the land because it fell on the flight path.

“KAA issued initial notice and has continued to issue reminder notices,” said Dominic Ngigi, the head of Corporate Affairs at KAA.

Records indicate that on September 15, KAA issued a reminder though the Daily Nation. Another notice had been issued almost a year earlier but that did not mention Syokimau, only limiting itself to Kyang’ombe and Mitumba Village at Wilson Airport.

The most recent notice read in part: “Further to previous notices issued by Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) on the above matter in safeguarding aviation security and safety of the JKIA and Wilson Airport, notice is hereby issued to any persons who have: a. Entered, occupied, developed or initiated any human activity upon or in the vicinity of the area known as Kyang’ombe Village and Syokiamu at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport…

“KAA has previously issued notices to all such persons to vacate such portions; the affected persons have persistently ignored and/or refused to comply with the said notices as instructed despite adequate time allowed by KAA...“KAA further cautions that upon the lapse of this notice, any buildings, installations, or erections will be demolished and/or removed and any human activities within this area will be stopped without further reference to them and at their cost and risk as to any loss or damage incurred.”

However, the authority has denied that it was carrying the ongoing demolitions.

“The matter is being made to look like it is about the KAA verses the public. But it’s a Cabinet decision being enforced by the Provincial Administration and the Kenya Police,” said Mr Ngigi.

Kenya has also lobbied for several years now to have United States commercial and passenger airlines fly to Nairobi to open the country to American tourists and the US flower market to Kenyan exports.

The delay has been attributed to security concerns by the US government.

The focus for those affected may now shift to the ministries of Land and local authorities’ officials who facilitated the transfer of land to the unsuspecting buyers.

The permanent secretary in the Ministry of Lands, Dorothy Angote, could not comment as she was said to be in a meeting but the ministry’s head of public relations, Richard Abura, said the ministry was carrying out investigations on why development was allowed on the land in the first place.