Nairobi County Government is locked in a fierce legal and political battle with a Jua Kali association over control of a prime 152-acre parcel of land in Embakasi, escalating tensions around one of the city’s most valuable real-estate holdings.
The contested land valued at more than Sh20 billion is claimed by the Nairobi City County Government, which says it was set aside for industrial development and public utilities decades ago.
However, members of the Jua Kali Embakasi Cooperative Society insist they were legally allocated the land in the 1990s for deployment as workshops and cottage-industry hubs under a presidential directive aimed at empowering informal-sector artisans.
The dispute has spilled into the Environment and Land Court after City Hall moved to evict more than 500 cooperative members who have erected sheds, small factories and storage yards on the property.
County officials argue the occupants are “illegal encroachers” and say the land is earmarked for upcoming affordable-housing and county infrastructure projects.
The Jua Kali group has countered with documentation they claim proves they were issued temporary occupation licences by the defunct Nairobi City Council, which were subsequently converted into long-term leases that City Hall now refuses to honour.
Tensions flared recently when county enforcement officers attempted to demolish structures on the land, triggering protests and prompting a temporary court injunction suspending evictions until the dispute is heard and determined.
City Hall maintains it is acting to protect public assets from land grabbers, while the artisans say they are being pushed out to make room for politically connected developers.
Real-estate analysts underscore the high stakes involved, with Embakasi land prices soaring due to its proximity to the JKIA, the Nairobi Expressway and the Inland Container Depot.
The case now threatens to become a major political headache for Governor Johnson Sakaja as he balances promises of supporting small traders with pressure to free up land for mega-projects that could reshape Nairobi’s development trajectory.
Written By Ian Maleve
