National Land Commission halts land compensation in Mombasa

The National Land Commission (NLC) has deferred compensation to landowners of the site of standard gauge railway (SGR) route between Mombasa and Mariakani.

Yesterday, Mombasa Lands Executive Francis Thoya, told residents to stay put even as County Commissioner Nelson Marwa threatened him for alleged incitement.

NLC Chairman Muhammad Swazuri told The Standard on Saturday that the commission first dealt with compensation of structures on the land because the land component had "become complicated and was taking long".

Dr Swazuri said NLC will today issue a new set of forms covering only improvement on the land to be considered for compensation and leave out the aspect of land to be sorted later.

"We will tomorrow issue new forms covering only improvements on the land such as houses, toilets, graves and plants, and the 15 per cent disturbance fee, but leave out the land compensation component because it has become complex," he said. He said the forms will be dispatched to Maganda and Skembo in Jomvu and Changamwe constituencies respectively.

Earlier, NLC had announced it had set aside Sh4.4 billion to compensate landowners and another Sh330 million to pay for improvements on land earmarked for the SGR project in Mombasa.

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But Thoya said the county government will not allow China Roads and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) to start work along the 8km stretch of the SGR within the county, until all aspects of compensation and the necessary approvals are in place.

He dared Marwa to arrest him, saying the county government was following the law in demanding better compensation for residents and approvals to be done before the SGR project starts.

"We have issued a notice to CRBC officials not to set foot on the disputed site until compensation and other issues are sorted. We are going to arrest them using the city inspectorate if they defy our notice," he said.

On Thursday, Marwa threatened to order the arrest of county government leaders he alleged were inciting landowners not to pave way for the project.