Court halts construction of new Nyali bridge

The High Court in Mombasa has stopped the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (Kura) from demolishing Tamarind village Apartments to construct the second Nyali Bridge across Tudor Creek connecting Mombasa Island to the Kenyan North Coast.

Kura wants to construct the bridge on the same site where an old private suspension bridge used to be before the current Nyali bridge was launched in 1980 but has now run into legal obstacles after the court issued a decision in favour of the current occupant of the proposed bridge’s path across the the creek.

In 2012, Kura had indicated that it wanted the apartments belonging to Tamarind Village Ltd on plots number 755 and 4/6 on Mombasa North mainland removed, arguing they were on a road reserve where the Government wanted to construct the bridge. However, Tamarind Village sued the State agency in 2012 to stop the threatened demolition of its multi-million shilling property and on Wednesday, the court declared that the agency had no legal power to unilaterally try to appropriate the land.

Justice Edward Muriithi said the Government has no authority to unilaterally revoke land titles or to require titles holders and registered proprietors to vacate their private property, save in accordance with the Constitution process of compulsory acquisition and The Land Acquisition Act.

Demolition notice

“Accordingly, while the court approves the public interest object of the Government in construction of the adjutant second bridge for Mombasa Island, the public interest requirement for observance of the rule of law calls for the due process in acquisition of the private property and payment of due compensation,” said Muriithi.

The judge said that in regards to the developments on the suit property, adequate period of time for the ex parte applicant to relocate its development upon acquisition would be necessary, pursuant to the principle of fair administrative action.

In his ruling, he said the Government has a public interest justification and a legitimate and noble objective in building the second bridge.

Desmond Odhiambo, the Lawyer for Tamarind, told the court that the action by Kura was unreasonable because it rushed to mark the property for demolition on March 16, 2012, before issuing any notice whatsoever to the residents of Tamarind Village.