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Court Stops KU Land Takeover

The government was also stopped from harassing officials of the university

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A Nairobi Court has stopped any planned sub-division of Kenyatta University’s land pending the determination of a petition filed by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK).

Justice Oscar Angote also blocked the government from harassing officials of the university to enforce a cabinet decision. The decision comes after Head of the Public Service Joseph Kinyua wrote to the KU Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Paul Wainaina directing him to hand over a title deed to the land.

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Justice Angote directed the matter to be heard on July 27. LSK, represented by senior counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi, told the court that the chairman of the university council Prof Shem Migot-Adholla had raised constitutional and statutory questions surrounding the planned land acquisition.

Wainaina had opposed plans to excise part of the public university’s land. 30 has been earmarked by the government to host the World Health Organization (WHO) Emergency Hub, a new facility intended to serve the region.

The government has also identified 190 acres to settle Kamae Squatters, 10 acres for the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and  180 acres for the Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital (KUTRH). Wainaina maintained that no negotiations or consultations took place, opposing the government’s plans to hive off the land.

Wainaina has since resigned over the saga while the university council has been suspended, with reports indicating that their identified replacements were apprehensive to take over amid the push-and-pull.

Days before Wainaina resigned, President Uhuru hit out at public officials over land management, promising to deal with them ‘swiftly and effectively’, in what was widely perceived as an attack on Wainaina.

“We have individuals who are very ignorant and behave as if they have never entered a classroom… they don’t understand that Kenya has never operated in isolation. We shall deal with those individuals swiftly and very effectively,” Uhuru stated at a groundbreaking ceremony for the WHO Hub.

The WHO hub is scheduled for completion in three years. The government has allocated 12.4 hectares (30.64 acres) and committed $5 million (Ksh600 million) for the project.

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MARTIN SIELE
MARTIN SIELEhttps://loud.co.ke/
Martin K.N Siele is the Content Lead at Business Today. He is also a Quartz contributor and a 2021 Baraza Media Lab-Fringe Graph Data Storytelling Fellow. Passionate about digital media, sports and entertainment, Siele also founded Loud.co.ke
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2 COMMENTS

  1. Ignorance is bliss, why is this WHO facility so urgent that it can’t wait for the right procedure for land aquisition to happen. Here’s what I think is the elephant in the room.
    Yours truly want to settle the squatters in a flashy ceremony attended by his elder brother, “assimio” and score a political goal. This WHO facility is just red herrings to force the university council into handing over the land. By the way, did I read that the government is giving the Land and also committing KSH 600m for the project? How much is WHO pumping into the project? I may be wrong but even if am wrong, it’s because there is alot of half truths being peddled around. Anyhow,unga ni how much kwenu?

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