Health centre’s land off limits, county warned

By CYRUS OMBATI

A court has barred the Nairobi County from encroaching on land belonging to the Highridge Health Centre within Parklands.

When issuing the temporary injunction, High Court Judge J Gitumbi said the facility catered for the needs of the less privileged in various slums of Deep Sea, Huruma and Githogoro, among others.

illegal allocation

Ephantus Mugo Muriuki moved to court seeking to stop the county government and Garun Investment limited from putting up structures on the land belonging to the health facility, arguing that it was public land.

Muriuki’s demands were granted by the court, which restrained the respondents from alienating, transferring, assigning, allocating, disposing, developing, interfering, wasting or selling the two parcels of land until the case is heard and determined.

Since 2011, the facility has been at the centre of a legal suit that pitted the defunct Nairobi City Council (NCC) and management of the hospital.

NCC claimed that the centre was constructed on private land. But documents produced by Muriuki indicated the land was public.

Judge Gitumbi directed the second defendant (county government) not to approve any development plans of the suit properties.

“The applicant has personally confirmed with the Nairobi County government that the transfer and, or allocation was illegal as the same was not approved in a full council meeting and in many cases being a public property, due process was not followed in the alleged allocation and transfer,” said Gitumbi.