The government has launched a crackdown against private developers who had reined in on a 6.93-acre property in Makande Estate, Mombasa.
An eviction notice issued by the National Land Commission (NLC) ordered the developers to vacate the land in three months or face forceful removal.
The order sent panic among the private developers who claim to have been allocated the land by the defunct Mombasa Municipal Council.
The orders came soon after NLC vice-chairperson Abigael Mukolwe toured the region to investigate how the developers acquired the land.
[caption caption="Police officers attempt to break a chain used to lock the main entrance of National Housing Corporation's estate in Changamwe, Mombasa, in July 2018"]
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National Housing Corporation (NHC) is the legitimate owner of the contested land and is said to have acquired it in exchange for repaying a debt.
The NLC vice-chairperson's investigations further indicated that the title deed for the parcel of land was transferred from the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) to NHC in 2009.
NHC is said to have developed the land and handed it back to the municipality but after it could not keep up with payments, its ownership was reverted to the housing corporation.
When NHC, however, tried to develop the land further, it was met with hostility from private developers who claimed to have been allocated the land by the municipal council.
18 individuals and companies presented purported letters of allotment from the council to the NLC officials to prove their claim.
The Corporation's managing director Andrew Siasi confirmed the events to be true adding that due to the opposition, the corporative was unable to improve amenities within the project in over 20 years.
[caption caption="NLC vice-chairperson Abigael Mukolwe during a past address at a Nairobi hotel"]
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