- Hobley Estate situated in a prime area within Mombasa is to be redeveloped as part of the affordable housing programme.
- The affected families who occupy the government buildings are now appealing to the authorities to intervene swiftly.
Image: KNA
500 families of civil servants in government quarters in Mombasa have been ordered to vacate the houses, to pave the way for the affordable housing project.
The families on Hobley Road Estate in Mvita Subcounty have been ordered to vacate the premises by October 1, 2024.
This is for the housing project, which is part of the bottom-up economic transformation agenda.
The affected families who occupy government buildings are now appealing to the authorities to intervene swiftly.
This is aimed at preventing possible forceful eviction.
The notice to vacate the houses was issued on March 3, 2024, by the Mombasa County Affordable Housing Committee through the County’s director of housing Rogers Wakhungu.
The committee directed that Hobley Estate situated in a prime area within Mombasa be redeveloped as part of the affordable housing programme.
The current occupants would get priority to purchase or rent the new units.
Part of the notice from the committee chaired by the county commissioner Mohamed N. Hassan reads:
"After deliberations, the committee directed that Hobley Road government estate, be redeveloped as part of the affordable housing programme in Mombasa.
"We thank and support the government for this noble initiative of affordable housing programme. The same should not be done to the detriment of government employees."
The committee said the move may cause families of government employees to be thrown out in the streets from the 52 Hobley Housing units.
The residents whose fate is undetermined contend that the decision to terminate their tenancies through the vacate notice was done arbitrarily.
The occupants were not consulted beforehand through the public participation process.
Some residents said most of the houses have not been maintained by the government for years and the occupants have been the ones maintaining them.
“When I was allocated the House, it was in a deplorable condition and therefore spent Sh400, 000 to make it habitable,” a tenant said.
Residents are requesting compensation and an extension of tenancy at least up to May 1, 2025.
This is due to the current economic hardship which has affected the property market in Mombasa.
“We have tried to engage the housing department and wrote a letter requesting for compensation and extension, but received no communication from the committee,” a tenant said.
The tenant added that some of the occupants are directors in their respective ministries.
The distraught tenants said they have children in school sitting for examinations in October and the relocation will disrupt their school calendar.
“It’s unfair we are told to vacate the houses we have been maintaining with our meagre earnings without any form of compensation to facilitate us finding alternate accommodation,” the tenants said.
Residents of a nearby Buxton Point project were each compensated with Sh240,000 when a similar project took place three years ago.
Mzizima, Likoni and Changamwe are some of the areas where occupants of either national or county government houses were compensated to pave the way for the construction of affordable houses.
Land Activist Evans Momanyi said the Constitution provides for public participation and the vacate notice was a contravention of fundamental rights and freedoms.
“It is distressing for the tenants to look for alternative accommodation in these tough economic times without any form of compensation.
"Nobody has money and the majority of the occupants might end up homeless,” Momanyi said.
He said the issue of compensation is very critical to cushion the tenants to seek alternative accommodation.
He said the government should show compassion to the public servants.