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A section of the Standard Gauge Railway crossing Makueni County on March
17, 2016. A section of the Sh327 billion standard gauge railway project
has been halted by the High Court in a land compensation dispute
pitting the government against land owners. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU |
NATION MEDIA GROUP
By BERNARD MWINZI
A section of the Sh327 billion standard gauge railway project
has been halted by the High Court in a land compensation dispute pitting
the government against landowners.
Owners of Miritini Free Port have gone to court, claiming that the government has compulsorily acquired their 91-hectare piece of land but has so far not paid them any compensation. The land is valued at Sh1.4 billion.
Halting construction on any of the sections of the Mombasa-Nairobi railway might have an impact on the completion date of the project which is Jubilee’s flagship venture.
Justice Ann Omollo, sitting at the High Court in Mombasa last Friday, stopped construction of the railway after the owners of Miritini Free Port argued that the project infringed on their constitutional rights to ownership of land and fair compensation.
Miritini has sued the Attorney-General, Kenya Railways Corporation, National Land Commission, and China Road and Bridge Corporation (Kenya) Limited, the last who are the contractors building the railway, one of Kenya’s most expensive projects.
Owners of the company said they learnt through a Kenya Gazette notice in January last year that the government planned to compulsorily acquire the 91-hectare piece of land in Miritini, Mombasa. At the time, the petitioner says, plans were under way to build a container handling depot on the property.
The National Land Commission valued the piece of land at Sh1.4 billion, and on December 23, 2015, the owners accepted the valuation and provided their bank details to facilitate payment.
MADE NUMEROUS FOLLOW UPS
“Since then,” argue the petitioners, “(we have) made numerous follow ups, specifically with Kenya Railways Corporation and the National Land Commission, including writing letters demanding payment of the award, but to date, no response has been forthcoming from them.”
Despite the delays in disbursement of the compensation, the contractor has moved onto the property to clear the way for the railway line.
The petitioners argue that the continued withholding of compensation exposes their company to “economic losses” as they hope to invest the awarded sum in a similar project elsewhere”, and that the delay “is having an adverse effect on the investors”.
Last month, President Uhuru Kenyatta said the project was on course, and that phase one of the railway — the 427-kilometre section from Mombasa to Nairobi, estimated to cost Sh327 billion — would be completed in June next year. The second phase, from Nairobi to Naivasha, will cost Sh153 billion.
Complaints regarding compensation delays have been common along the stretch of the line, and on the day President Kenyatta made the announcement that the project was on schedule, landowners in Sultan Hamud decried delays in disbursement of money owed to them by Kenya Railways.
However, a source at the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development, speaking yesterday on condition of anonymity because he is not allowed to speak to the media, said there were concerns that politicians were influencing petitions against the project for personal gain.
“They could be bankrolling the petitioners in the hope that they will get a cut from compensation money disbursed to landowners,” he said. “Or to simply frustrate the government project.”
TRIGGER DOMINO EFFECT
Either way, the biggest threat to the SGR now is the petitions in court against it. Further injunctions on sections of it could trigger a domino effect down the line as more aggrieved property owners line up cases against the contractor, the land commission, and the Attorney-General.
In Mombasa, yet another petitioner has moved to the High Court seeking orders to stop construction of the railway. African Gas and Oil Company Ltd was on January 7 this year awarded Sh159 million as compensation for its land, and a further Sh360 million as reparation for disruption of its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) business.
However, the company says it has not received any money from the government, and therefore does not wish to have the contractor on site before the matter is settled.
The High Court has, in the meantime, stopped construction of the railway line on the disputed 41-hectare piece of land.
It has also stopped building of the Mombasa Southern Bypass and Kipevu New Terminal Link Road, which pass through the land.
In March this year, Mr Mohamed Swazuri of the National Land Commission said the government would acquire over 4,600 hectares for the SGR at a cost of more than Sh30.2 billion. By April this year, Sh12 billion had been disbursed to affected land owners.
Initially, even though approvals were made by Mr Swazuri’s team, payments of compensation were handled by Kenya Railways from collections of the Rail Development Levy, which was introduced in 2013 to finance upgrading of Kenya’s rail network.
However, the National Land Commission earlier this year took over the role of compensation, and yesterday Ms Abigail Mbagaya, the vice-chair of the commission, said the delay in compensating property owners was because Kenya Railways was yet to start remitting funds from the Rail Development Levy to NLC.
“We are in talks with them, and I believe we will have the money very soon,” said Ms Mbagaya.
CREDIT: NMG
Owners of Miritini Free Port have gone to court, claiming that the government has compulsorily acquired their 91-hectare piece of land but has so far not paid them any compensation. The land is valued at Sh1.4 billion.
Halting construction on any of the sections of the Mombasa-Nairobi railway might have an impact on the completion date of the project which is Jubilee’s flagship venture.
Justice Ann Omollo, sitting at the High Court in Mombasa last Friday, stopped construction of the railway after the owners of Miritini Free Port argued that the project infringed on their constitutional rights to ownership of land and fair compensation.
Miritini has sued the Attorney-General, Kenya Railways Corporation, National Land Commission, and China Road and Bridge Corporation (Kenya) Limited, the last who are the contractors building the railway, one of Kenya’s most expensive projects.
Owners of the company said they learnt through a Kenya Gazette notice in January last year that the government planned to compulsorily acquire the 91-hectare piece of land in Miritini, Mombasa. At the time, the petitioner says, plans were under way to build a container handling depot on the property.
The National Land Commission valued the piece of land at Sh1.4 billion, and on December 23, 2015, the owners accepted the valuation and provided their bank details to facilitate payment.
MADE NUMEROUS FOLLOW UPS
“Since then,” argue the petitioners, “(we have) made numerous follow ups, specifically with Kenya Railways Corporation and the National Land Commission, including writing letters demanding payment of the award, but to date, no response has been forthcoming from them.”
Despite the delays in disbursement of the compensation, the contractor has moved onto the property to clear the way for the railway line.
The petitioners argue that the continued withholding of compensation exposes their company to “economic losses” as they hope to invest the awarded sum in a similar project elsewhere”, and that the delay “is having an adverse effect on the investors”.
Last month, President Uhuru Kenyatta said the project was on course, and that phase one of the railway — the 427-kilometre section from Mombasa to Nairobi, estimated to cost Sh327 billion — would be completed in June next year. The second phase, from Nairobi to Naivasha, will cost Sh153 billion.
Complaints regarding compensation delays have been common along the stretch of the line, and on the day President Kenyatta made the announcement that the project was on schedule, landowners in Sultan Hamud decried delays in disbursement of money owed to them by Kenya Railways.
However, a source at the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development, speaking yesterday on condition of anonymity because he is not allowed to speak to the media, said there were concerns that politicians were influencing petitions against the project for personal gain.
“They could be bankrolling the petitioners in the hope that they will get a cut from compensation money disbursed to landowners,” he said. “Or to simply frustrate the government project.”
TRIGGER DOMINO EFFECT
Either way, the biggest threat to the SGR now is the petitions in court against it. Further injunctions on sections of it could trigger a domino effect down the line as more aggrieved property owners line up cases against the contractor, the land commission, and the Attorney-General.
In Mombasa, yet another petitioner has moved to the High Court seeking orders to stop construction of the railway. African Gas and Oil Company Ltd was on January 7 this year awarded Sh159 million as compensation for its land, and a further Sh360 million as reparation for disruption of its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) business.
However, the company says it has not received any money from the government, and therefore does not wish to have the contractor on site before the matter is settled.
The High Court has, in the meantime, stopped construction of the railway line on the disputed 41-hectare piece of land.
It has also stopped building of the Mombasa Southern Bypass and Kipevu New Terminal Link Road, which pass through the land.
In March this year, Mr Mohamed Swazuri of the National Land Commission said the government would acquire over 4,600 hectares for the SGR at a cost of more than Sh30.2 billion. By April this year, Sh12 billion had been disbursed to affected land owners.
Initially, even though approvals were made by Mr Swazuri’s team, payments of compensation were handled by Kenya Railways from collections of the Rail Development Levy, which was introduced in 2013 to finance upgrading of Kenya’s rail network.
However, the National Land Commission earlier this year took over the role of compensation, and yesterday Ms Abigail Mbagaya, the vice-chair of the commission, said the delay in compensating property owners was because Kenya Railways was yet to start remitting funds from the Rail Development Levy to NLC.
“We are in talks with them, and I believe we will have the money very soon,” said Ms Mbagaya.
CREDIT: NMG
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