A Bungoma-based activist has petitioned the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to intervene and halt the ongoing smart city project at the Bungoma airstrip, citing alleged legal and procedural irregularities.
Barasa Nyukuri submitted the petition on Wednesday at the EACC’s Western Region offices in Bungoma, calling for investigations into what he said was the ‘illegal construction ‘on Land Parcel No. Bungoma Township/345, measuring approximately 36.95 acres and locally known as wanna ndege, initially the Bungoma airstrip.
Nyukuri claimed the process of degazetting the land by the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) was conducted secretly and without meaningful public participation.
“The established legal process and procedure to reverse the allocation of the said land parcel from being an airstrip for another use or development was not adhered to,” he said.
He argued that the change of use violated several provisions of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010, including Articles 1, 2, 3, 10(1), 47, 48, 50, and 69(1), insisting that the entire process was irregular and opaque.
He further questioned the capacity and legality of Shan General Merchants Company, which he said fenced off the disputed land, to undertake a project of such magnitude on public land.
“The said entity was registered merely as a business name, Shan General Merchants, under registration number BN-B8S02Z83 on December 5, 2024,” Nyukuri stated.
According to the activist, the ongoing construction of the smart city, affordable housing, and associated social amenities is proceeding without meaningful public participation, contrary to Articles 1, 10, and 69(1)(d) of the Constitution.
He also alleged that the project is being implemented without a participatory, published, and publicised Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) report approved by the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA).
“If there is any ESIA report, then it was undertaken in a secretive manner, and there was no meaningful public participation conducted by the relevant duty bearers,” he said.
Nyukuri further claimed that the proprietor of Shan General Merchants, its officers, contractors, and agents had disobeyed court orders issued by Justice Enock C. Cherono in Case Number ELCLPET/E001/2026, involving Zacharia Baraza versus the Ministry of Lands, Public Works and Urban Development, the State Department of Housing and Urban Development, the National Land Commission, and three others.
He proposed that the land parcel be reserved for public use, including the expansion of Bungoma Teaching and Referral Hospital (Level 5), a children’s park, a public library, and other recreational facilities.
Nyukuri called on the EACC, in collaboration with the National Police Service (NPS) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), to immediately enforce the court orders pending the hearing and determination of the petition at the Environment and Land Court in Bungoma.
He also urged the Inspector General of Police to direct the Officer Commanding Bungoma South Police Station to deploy officers to secure the disputed site.
