Construction works A Sh 6bn affordable housing project by Mombasa County in partnership with a private developer is set to commence after the High Court dismissed a case seeking to stop the venture.
The project, which have been in the works since 2016, suffered a legal blow last October after 13 residents moved to Court to stop its inauguration, saying they were protected tenants who could not be evicted by the county government.
The residents filed a petition at the Environment and Land Court arguing that the project will lead to the current tenants losing their houses that will be demolished and those to be built will be sold to any willing buyer at commercial rates.
Dismissalย of case
The residents therefore wanted to continue occupying the flats in the estate and that the county and Buxton Point Apartment Ltd that is set to undertake the project, do not have the power to interfere with their quiet and peaceful occupancy.
They also wanted a declaration that Buxton Point Apartments Ltd does not have the capacity to deal with any portion of the land where the estate stands and also claim the county did not offer information on the project, raising the question of integrity, accountability, transparency, sustainable development and viability.
However, in a ruling made by Justice Sila Munyao the petition was dismissed saying the county had given the applicants enough time to vacate and even volunteered to compensate them. Justice Munyao said there was no violation of the tenantsโ rights in the way they were expected to move out โ dismissing their claim of being protected tenants.
Sh 6billion affordable housing project
โI have accessed the manner in which the tenants in Buxton are expected to vacate and found it does not in any way violate their rights. The relationship between the petitioner and the county government is that of landlord-tenant which would be governed by a contract. The county had given tenants 90 days to vacate instead of the usual one month,โ ruled Justice Munyao.
The Sh 6billion affordable housing project involves construction of 1,860 new apartments. The county government had entered into a partnership with businessman Suleiman Shahbal who won the tender to build the housing units. Mr Shahbal on his part said over 500 residents of Butxton estate will become home owners through mortgage and tenant purchase arrangements.
The county government has already began issuing a relocation allowance of Sh240,000 to the affected tenants. In addition, the developer has paid a Sh60,000 deposit for each family as commitment for buying the units. Under the scheme, a one bedroom house will be sold for Sh1.8 million, while a two bedroom unit will go for Sh3 million. Individuals seeking a four bedroom unit will be required to raise Sh4.2 million. There will also be bedsitters going for less than a million shillings. Phase one of the project will be completed in 12 months.
