03:44 GMT 30th January 2012
From mid-October to early December, more than 200 home owners in Syokimau, an upmarket estate adjacent to Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), watched helplessly as their properties were bulldozed.
The demolitions were ordered by the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA), which says it owns the land. Transport minister Amos Kimunya argued that the buildings posed a threat to aircraft and the airport itself as they could provide cover for terrorists seeking to launch an attack.
The demolitions came hot on the heels of Kenya's Defence Forces' incursion into Somalia to hunt down al-Shabaab militants, the al-Qaeda-linked group being blamed for a number of abductions along the Kenya border. A spate of grenade attacks in the Kenyan capital in October swiftly followed the invasion.
But in a twist to the story, victims of the demolitions have discovered they were sold bogus title deeds as a result of corrupt property agents working in cahoots with ministry oflands officials. Following these revelations, 12 ministry workers were sacked, but by this time the demolitions had already been carried out.
However, the KAA points out that as the legal owner of the land, it warned developers not to build there as far back as 2004. In the same year, KAA went to court to stop further subdivision of the land but the agents - Uungani Settlement Scheme Self Help Group and Mlolongo Brothers Association - pressed ahead.
While appearing before a parliamentary select committee investigating the demolitions, the commissioner of lands, Zablon Mabeya, admitted the title deeds were fake but was unable to explain why the ministry did not alert the plot buyers in time.
'Mlolongo Brothers had submitted a letter to the ministry on February 24 this year for conversion under the Titles Act in an alleged attempt to legitimise their title,' Mabeya told the committee sitting at County Hall in Nairobi. 'They, however, faked the signatures of an officer and that of the lands minister and conversed the title.'
High Court Judge Mohammed Warsame, who presided over a case filed by developers to stop the demolitions, described the government as a 'monster'.
'This government monster in the name of security ought to be investigated and tamed, otherwise it might run amok and cause more suffering to citizens of this country,' he remarked.
The demolitions were not restricted to Syokimau. Residents of Eastleigh, which neighbours Moi Airbase, also woke up to the roar of bulldozers in early December. Large numbers of ethnic Somalis live in Eastleigh, and the authorities believe many are ai-Shabaab sympathisers who might be harbouring the fighters.
Residents of Kyangombe slums in Embakasi, which lies next to JKIA, have also been made homeless. 'Why do they do this to us? It is inhumane,' said resident Barthlomew Wanyama.
To add to Syokimau residents' ordeal, their homes were built using bank loans, whose repayments have shot up from about 17 to 25 per cent in the last two months.
The escalating interest rates have been compounded by the Central Bank of Kenya's decision to raise its Central Bank Rate (CBR) from 11 to 17 per cent as a measure to cushion the shilling, which is suffering a slide in value.
Real estate analysts argue that the demolitions are likely to have a negative impact on the construction industry as prospective developers will be reluctant to buy up vacant plots.
As the debate on the demolitions continued to rage, the Institution of Surveyors of Kenya, (ISK) called on the public to be wary of 'cowboys' who have invaded the profession.
'It is the responsibility of the government to ensure that transparent and cost effective land administration procedures are followed,' said Kowuor. 'We also urge the public to be consulting professionals in the land sector to prevent them from incurring huge losses.'
While the demolitions have temporarily been stopped by court orders, the government maintains that it will not compensate the victims who were duped into buying public land. The confrontation between the government and members of the public whose properties have either been demolished or targeted for demolition is likely to persist for sometime.
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