The government is pursuing out-of-court agreements to resolve conflicts that have halted critical economic projects in the Coast region.
This comes as the number of court cases filed by the aggrieved parties continues to rise.
President Uhuru Kenyatta’s legacy projects are being finished before he leaves office, and government ministries have gone into agreements with them to save time and money.
Officials claim that two major projects, the Sh8.5 billion Mombasa Kwa Jomvu Road and the Sh4.5 billion Makupa bridge, have been halted due to compensation claims filed in court.
The road was 97 percent complete, and the bridge was 90 percent complete.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i and his Transport counterpart James Macharia said they are spearheading negotiations with contractors and entities for important projects through the National Land Commission, Kenya National Highways Authority and other agencies.
They spoke in Mombasa after the government and affected locals began talks on the dueling of the Mombasa-Mariakani route, which has been plagued by court battles over land compensation.
The two ministers expressed optimism that the matter will be addressed soon.
Parties dissatisfied with the prizes made for land compulsorily acquired for the project have filed at least eight cases along the Mombasa-Kwa-Jomvu Road. The cases are in various stages of the legal process.
“Ultimately when these project stall due to the court processes, we have to pay contractors for lost time,”
He added: “Although it was within the rights of individuals and private firms unhappy with the compensation amounts to go to court (out of court settlement) also helped to manage relationships between the parties.”
The 300-metre interchange segment of the 12-kilometer road, which was supposed to be finished last October.
The conflict has also hampered the relocation of critical services like water and sewer pipes.
The impasse prompted a halt to the project’s second phase, which included the dulling of the European Union-funded Sh15.3 billion Kwa Jomvu-Marikani portion.
According to Macharia, the compensation conflicts spanned numerous ministries, necessitating the formation of an inter-ministerial panel to find solutions.
Several additional court cases involving big government-funded development projects are currently pending across the country.
In some cases, firms have sued after the government cancelled their contracts due to missed timelines or shoddy work.
Since 2013, the government has invested more than Sh1.4 trillion on various projects in the Coast region to boost trade and tourism and create jobs, Kenneth Mwige, the Vision 2030 delivery secretariat director-general revealed when he visited the region two months ago.