Court stops erection of 18-floor building, says high-rise apartments turning cities to "vertical slums

Environment and Land Court judge Lucas Leperes Naikuni (third right) during a site visit at a site over disputed construction of an 18-foor building at Kizingo in Mombasa County on Monday, November 14, 2022. [Kelvvin Karani, Standard]

A judge has stopped the construction of an 18-floor building in Mombasa after neighbours complained that it would interfere with their privacy in bedrooms and swimming pools.

In the landmark decision that handed the Kizingo residents their right to privacy, Justice Lucas Naikuni of the Environment and Lands Court said the emergence of high-rise apartments in Nairobi and Mombasa would soon turn to "vertical slums" if left unchecked.