City Hall sued over destruction of property during clampdown of Freemasons Hall

The Freemasons Society has sued the Nairobi City County Government seeking compensation for destruction of property during the recent clampdown on the Freemasons Hall in Nairobi over alleged Ksh 19 million land rate dues.

In the suit filed before Milimani High Court Judge Bahati Mwamuye, the Society claims that the Johnson Sakaja-led administration was aware that they were exempted from paying rates.

It accused the Country team, which led the clampdown on their property, of damage after they decided to encroach on their Nyerere Road property.

“On 14th May 2025, the Respondent, acting through its agents and/or representatives, unlawfully entered upon the Petitioner’s property, used excessive force to demolish the gate, and affixed a notice indicating that the petitioner had defaulted in the payment of land rates to a tune of Sh19 million and that, consequently, the property was now under the management of the respondent,” the petition filed by Rachier and Amollo Advocates states in part.

It told the court that it was registered in Kenya under the Societies Act, Chapter 108 of the Laws of Kenya, to carry out charitable activities in the country, and was granted an exemption from the payment of land rates through Legal Notices number 389 and 390 of 1990.

The Society reveals that City Hall was aware, by their various correspondences, that they were not to pay the rates.“

“The said legal notices have not been overtaken by any subsequent events or revoked by any other notices, and accordingly, they remain valid and continue to govern and bind the conduct of the relationship between the petitioner and the respondent,” the suit papers say.

The Society adds that this was not the first clampdown by the City government, as it had previously undertaken the same but backed down upon being informed of the exemption.

“It is for this reason that the petitioner was greatly shocked and dismayed by the respondent’s invasion of its property on 14th May 2025, notwithstanding the continued existence and validity of the said exemption,” it states.

It avers that the county government illegally, and with impunity, disrupted its quiet without an explanation of how and why it should pay the rates. It urged the court to intervene as City Hall cannot be trusted to keep its word.

“The respondent, by its conduct, has breached Article 47 of the Constitution, which establishes a legitimate expectation that, as a public body, it is bound to honor its own decisions. Consequently, the petitioner has continued to operate its activities on the said property with the reasonable belief and assurance that the respondent would respect the exemption granted under the exemption notice,” it says.

The Society now wants City Hall to compensate them for violating their rights as they requested the court to find that the county government cannot demand rates which it had forfeited.

Justice Mwamuye directed the society and the county government to appear before him on May 29.