A prime parcel on Kahawa Sukari estate in Ruiru subcounty is at the centre of a protracted dispute between residents and a private developer.
Kahawa Sukari Welfare Association says the land, situated just 200 metres off Thika Superhighway, is public property. However, the private developer, Uptown Agencies Limited, says it owns the parcel.
The company is associated with one Laban Mwangi Muiruri.
The association says the land has been a matatu terminus for more than two decades. Small-scale traders from the area have also been operating on it.
Chairperson Mary Wangari accused the firm of planning to grab the land at the expense of traders, matatu operators and small-scale traders, who rely on it to make a living.
"This land has been a matatu terminus. Police also used to reside on this land before they moved to the new police station at Felma Centre.
"Also, our offices have been on this land for years and we have been evicted. We won’t allow the land to be illegally taken and developed,” Wangari said.
She said residents are ready to meet the private developer and give them a chance to produce any ownership documents.
“We want whoever is behind developing this land to come forward and produce the documents they have, indicating they own this land. We also want to hear how they acquired the documents,” she said.
Moses Mutua, a matatu operator, said he has been in the business in the area since 1998 and the land has always been public property.
“No one has ever laid claim to this land until now. We stand to suffer a lot should the private developer develops it,” Mutua said.
The residents called for the intervention of the national government through the National Land Commission and the Kiambu government to ensure the land is not grabbed.
The private developer was last week stopped by the Kiambu government from developing the parcel for lack of approvals.
The county government, in a notice seen by the Star, acknowledged Muiruri as the owner of the parcel.
Muiruri has since died but his family is in charge. The notice was served to the family as they had not been permitted by the county government to develop the land.
“The private developer was ordered to stop any further construction with immediate effect, obtain development permission and reinstate the ground to its original state,” George Mutuota, Ruiru subcounty building inspector, said.
Newton Kariuki, the manager of the parcel and a Kahawa Sukari dweller, dismissed the claims that the land is a public utility. He said it is privately owned and the owners are in possession of all documents to prove ownership.
Kariuki said the land was owned by Laban Muiruri, who died in 2002, and who was one of the original directors of the Kahawa Sukari land.
"We have all documents proving we are the genuine owners of this land. We have been paying land rates to the county government,” Kariuki said.
He said Muiruri allowed police to temporarily settle on the land to restore security that had deteriorated then and when a new police station was constructed on a public parcel at Felma Centre, the police agreed to relocate.
“Out of good, the late Muiruri also allowed matatu operators to operate from the land. But the group (association), which was formed just a few years ago thinks the land is a public property just because police had settled on it and the matatu operators were operating freely,” he said.
Kariuki averred that the association does not have any document showing the land is public property, hence cannot claim ownership.
“We will get all the approvals and continue with the development,” Kariuki said.