Environment and Lands court has temporarily stopped the CS for Water, Sanitation and irrigation and CS for Lands and physical planning not to evict members of the Kariobangi Sewerage self-help group.
Justice Samson Okong’o certified their application to stop the eviction as urgent saying that its purpose may be defeated unless the it is heard ex parte in the first instance and temporary orders granted to preserve the subject matter of the suit.
The group moved to court after they were served with an eviction letter on 22nd April by the Lands PS and Nairobi County informing them they would be evicted.
According to an affidavit by the group’s Chairperson Isaac Abdi Aden, the applicants have been the legal owners of the property known as Nairobi/block/1/175 which they acquired through allocation by the county of Nairobi and have been in peaceful occupation of the property since 1998.
“The applicants were surprised by the letter from the second and fourth respondents who seek to evict them from the property yet they have no proprietary interest over the land and their actions of acquiring it is a total abuse of their powers,” said Aden.
The applicants say the respondents violated their right to be heard as they were denied the opportunity to be heard to make their representations before the respondents as requires by law.
They allege the actions are in breach of the constitution and violates their right to be treated with dignity.
It is further alleged that when the land was alloted to the group, it had 375 members but currently, the property is occupied by 8000 inhabitants.
The judge directed the application should be served forthwith upon the respondents for hearing inter-partes remotely on 7th May, 2020 through Microsoft Teams Video Conferencing platform.
