City council, DoD in tussle over Sh62 billion land

By Evelyn Kwamboka

The City Council of Nairobi is locked in a legal tussle with the Department of Defence (DoD) over a Sh62 billion land housing a barracks.

The council has moved to court after the DoD failed to pay for or vacate the piece of land measuring 1,246.7 hectares (3,078.12 acres) on which Nairobi’s Embakasi barracks sits, and which it is alleged to have acquired illegally.

It is on this piece of land that the military’s biggest research lab, armory, schools and staff quarters are located.

In the suit papers filed at the Nairobi’s Milimani Courts registry, the council’s lawyer Donald Kipkorir says DoD allegedly breached a contract for the land’s purchase and wrongfully took possession of the property on November 7, 1997.

The office of the Attorney General, representing Defence Minister Yusuf Haji and the Kenya Defence Forces, was served with the suit papers and is expected to file its response by June 18.