Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) Director-General Mohamed Badi has announced that 10,000 city residents who live or operate enterprises on property designated for public utilities will be evicted.
The NMS director told Senators yesterday that the agency, which works under a multiagency committee, had a backlog of pending evictions across the city’s 17 sub-counties.
Those who have been targeted have taken over public lands such as road reserves and sewer connections.
Evictions will target illegal structures built on public land or reserves, as well as mechanics operating garages on public land.
The information was revealed during a meeting between the NMS director general and a Senate committee to discuss the evictions and demolitions in the Pumwani and Eastleigh neighbourhoods.
Badi testified before the Senate’s Devolution and Inter-governmental Relations Committee, which is looking into house demolitions and evictions.
The structures are for Pumwani Maternity Hospital doctors and nurses, as well as Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company employees.
After the properties were controversially allocated to private developers, the lot was evicted from their lodgings.
Some of the apartments were constructed with the help of a World Bank loan secured by the government.
Tens of police officers and NMS officials landed on their quarters with heavy machinery on the night of July 2021, and removed the occupants.
The crew was enforcing a court order obtained by a private developer who had been controversially given land by Nairobi’s defunct City Council.
Badi wanted to clear his company of the demolition work.
He blamed the regional security and intelligence committee, which decides which court decisions for evictions would be carried out.
The regional commissioner chairs the multi-agency task force, which includes top county officers.
“NMS did not evict any person from the said land nor did it participate in the eviction exercise. There is a committee that sits to determine the operation,” Badi said.
“I am sure they have standard operating procedures but if you ask me I am not involved in that operation.”
Badi had a hard time explaining that NMS officers were not part of the task force that carries out evictions that are mostly illegal.
“I think you are struggling too much to wash your hands off this matter. What we are asking is not just about your personal culpability,” committee chairman Moses Kajwang’ (Homa Bay Senator) said.
“We are asking what are the steps, what is the best practice for carrying out these demolitions, we are not trying to fix you.”
Badi said most of the land problems stemmed from irregular and illegal allocations that include multiple allocations by the defunct council.
Illegal constructions encroaching on Trans Mara Printers along Aerodrome Road in Nairobi West, Lang’ata sub-county, are among the areas slated for removal.
Slum homes in the Ole Sereni section, off Mombasa Road will be cleared as well.
Illegal structures will be demolished along the perimeter wall of the East African School of Aviation in Embakasi, as well as illegal structures on Karsang land near Manyanja Road in Umoja.
Structures near the perimeter wall of Kenya Builders and Concrete Company Limited, as well as the surrounding areas of Kware and Pipeline, are under attack.
Illegal containers installed at Huruma playfield by CBOs are scheduled to be removed in Mathare, according to reports, in an area that is the sole remaining location capable of hosting national or significant gatherings.
Illegal constructions are also anticipated to be removed in Kiamaiko.
