Former President Daniel Arap Moi has been thrown at the centre of a land dispute with the city billionaire Mike Maina.
Maina, the proprietor of the controversial Marble Arch Hotel, reportedly acquired a court order allowing him to demolish houses in Nyama Villa, Komarock leaving hundreds homeless.
It has, however, emerged that the landowners, members of Embakasi/Njiru United Self-Help Group, were awarded the land by Moi as a token of appreciation.
According to the secretary of the group, Meshack Ambuka, the members were asked to settle on the land as squatters awaiting official title deeds processing.
“He advised us to occupy the land under the arrangement of informal settlement, then move to formal settlement through regularisation by Nairobi City Council,” stated Ambuka.
He added that they had been advised to settle on the lands with numbers L.R.NO. 22142, L.R.NO.22144 and L.R.NO.11344/R.
Ambuka further divulged that Moi had allowed them to settle on the parcels after they had proved their unwavering support for his then political party, KANU.
“One of the reasons which made retired President Moi issue a presidential decree for Embakasi delegates to have the land was because we were always summoned and available at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
“Whenever President Moi travelled overseas, we were there to see him off. As he came back, we were always available to receive him,” he revealed.
Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko was, in 2018, caught in a turf with the billionaire halting the demolitions after a phone call with President Kenyatta.
Sonko hurled insults at the tycoon in a recorded phone call claiming that he acquired an eviction order by use of fake ownership documents.
