More than 3,000 members of the Woodley Estate Residents Welfare Society (WRWS) have dragged governor Johnson Sakaja’s administration to court seeking to block the planned eviction from a prime 10-acre plot in Woodley estate, Kibera.
The plot, valued at approximately Sh5 billion, has been at the centre of a contentious dispute involving accusations of illegal land allocation to a private developer and lack of public participation.
The petition, filed at the Milimani Law Courts, is led by WRWS members Wanja Kimani, Peter Ngatia, John Mugwe and Samson Mwangi.
They allege that the Nairobi City County Government, led by Governor Sakaja, is acting unlawfully by allocating the land to African Reit Ltd a private developer without the required public consultations.
The residents argue that the process surrounding this decision is shrouded in secrecy and lacks transparency.
According to the petition, the Nairobi County Government has not engaged with residents in any meaningful public participation or stakeholder involvement, a crucial step required by law.
Monetary compensation
Instead, the administration is reportedly offering monetary compensation as a means to pacify the affected residents.
Lawyer Danstan Omari, representing the petitioners, criticised this approach as a violation of constitutional and legal norms.
He emphasized that residents should not be treated as second-class citizens, and their rights to property and due process must be upheld.
The lawsuit centers around allegations that the county government’s move to evict residents and demolish their homes is part of a larger scheme to allocate the valuable land to private interests, disregarding the needs and rights of the current occupants.
The residents argue that this decision represents an illegal land grab and is being conducted without any valid environmental impact assessment or legal justification.
The history of Woodley estate adds a layer of complexity to the dispute. Many residents claim to have purchased their homes from the defunct Nairobi City Council decades ago, a transaction they argue should have granted them security of tenure.
They point out that similar sales were recognised in other parts of Nairobi, such as Makadara and Dangoretti, and expected Woodley residents to benefit in the same manner.
