Sh8 billion set aside to compensate landowners displaced by rail project

Kenya Railways is working with the National Land Commission to ensure full compensation to landowners before acquisition for the project. [PHOTO: FILE]

By James Wanzala

Kenya: The Kenya Railways (KR) has assured landowners affected by the standard gauge railway (SGR) project that they will be fully compensated for their holdings before construction begins.

This follows the setting aside of more than Sh8 billion to compensate landowners who will be affected by the SGR project. KR is the implementing agency for the Sh327 billion project, whose first phase involves the construction of a standard gauge railway line between Mombasa and Nairobi.

Legal framework

The corporation said it would work with the relevant Government agencies to ensure the land needed for the project is acquired in a transparent manner and paid for as required by law.

“Our mandate is clear. We shall work with the National Land Commission and other State agencies to ensure that the acquisition and compensation for land needed to execute the project is done within the laid down legal framework,” said Kenya Railways Managing Director Atanas Maina.

“It will also be done to the satisfaction of all the parties concerned, including the landowners.” The communication by KRC brings into clarity the project implementation schedule, especially at a time when there has been anxiety by the public regarding land acquisition for the project. Residents of Kwale County, through Governor Salim Mvurya, recently expressed concerns over the same, amidst unconfirmed claims that affected landowners may not be compensated.

This was as their names had not been included in the previous Gazette notice. Similar sentiments have also been echoed in Voi County.

Maina added that any information to the contrary is misleading. “We have no intention at all of operating on any other guidelines other than the Land Act 2012, which has clear provisions on compulsory land acquisition and compensation by the Government for projects of public interest like this one,” added Maina. Kenya Railways is working with the National Land Commission (NLC) on the acquisition and compensation.

Tsavo National Parks

NLC has already kicked off the process. In early February this year, NLC through Gazette Notice 724 announced the intended acquisition and compensation for two parcels of land currently falling under the Tsavo East and West National Parks.

The was also another registered under the Kenya Wildlife Service and some 27 parcels of land in Taveta, Kwale and Makueni counties. “We wish to inform the public that we shall and are working strictly within that framework.”

The project is being implemented in its first phase through the construction of a green-field railway track between Mombasa and Nairobi.

Maina cited the Land Act, which in sections 107, 111 and 113 spells out the procedure for compulsory acquisition and compensation by the Government whenever such land, private or public, is needed for a project of mutual public benefit like the SGR.

The Act gives the mandate for verification and administration of such processes to the National Land Commission. The compensation is intended for the other affected landowners and parcels of land on the SGR’s route.