The owner of Airgate Mall, formerly Taj Mall, Ramesh Gorasai spoke out on Saturday, hours after the government started the demolition of his Ksh5 Billion property.
Speaking to reporters, Gorasai condemned the demolition maintaining that the establishment was not built on a road reserve.
The mall owner insisted that he was not at fault for putting up the structure, urging authorities to go after those who authorised its construction.
"They gave approvals based on the title deed which was genuine and the land rates which were all paid.
"All I will say is that it is wrong to demolish this mall that people purportedly say was built on a road reserve," Gorasai maintained.
The owner of the controversial mall claims to hold a title deed for the land on which Taj Mall was built.
During a press statement on August 16, 2018, Ramesh dared the government to knock down the building declaring that he would sue for compensation.
"I will not remove the structure. NLC and the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) have been asking me to demolish it for five years.
"I do not understand why they want to demolish it now. They did not even identify themselves, they just came and sprayed ‘demolish’ on the walls
"Of course I support the President on the war on graft and those that unlawfully acquired land must face the consequences. We, however, need to consider the amount of money people have invested," he explained at the time.
