Govt Loses Land Meant for Thika Road Bus Terminus

A section of the Thika Superhighway at Allsops
A section of the Thika Superhighway at Allsops
Simon Kiragu

The government has lost a prime piece of land which was meant for the construction of a bus terminus along Thika Road. 

A court in Nairobi ruled that the government had attempted to short change a private firm in a botched purchase deal. 

Documents presented before the court detailed that the firm, Springdew Properties, sold the land to the government in 2009 at Ksh29 million. 

The land was to be reserved for the expansion of Thika Road and for the construction of a terminus and a road interchange. 

An empty court room.
An empty court room.
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In 2015, the company refunded the money and proceeded with building a mall worth Ksh 25 million. However, in 2017, the firm learnt that the land was gazetted in the Kenya Gazette as a road reserve. 

The Ministry of Lands had notified that the mall was private property and later degazetted it arguing that it was public land, forcing the aggrieved firm to file a lawsuit. 

Former National Lands Commission (NLC) officials were blamed for gazetting the contested property as private property rather than public land. NLC's lawyer added that the former employees did not follow the right procedure adding that the mistake prompted the amendment which led to a court battle. 

Lady Justice Lucy Gacheru ruled that the government would have to compensate Springdew before it demolishes the multi-million mall to build a bus terminus. 

The Ministry of Lands will have to pay nearly three times the 2009 price as the land price has appreciated with an acre in the contested location currently costing Ksh40 million. 

"It is the court's considered view that the petitioner, having exercised its preemptive rights and having reimbursed the compensation paid to it fully, validly reacquired the said land as it had not been utilised for the purpose it was intended for by the time it sought to exercise its rights.

"Therefore, the petitioner, cannot be blamed for the misgivings of NLC who has an obligation to efficiently and effectively conduct its duties," Gacheru added. 

In December 2020, officers from the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) were reportedly deployed at the Ministry of Lands to commence a digitization programme and streamline operations. 

It was reported that the digitisation programme was rolled out to eliminate the notorious fraud and forgery of documents that is rampant at Ardhi House.

President Uhuru Kenyatta has on numerous occasions reiterated that the military is efficient, work under a tight budget and that they are transparent. 

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Ardhi House, Lands Ministry headquarters in Nairobi
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