LAND grabbers have filed more than 10 cases in various Mombasa Courts, and literary stopped the construction of the busy Mombasa to Mariakani Road.
As a result, various injunctions have been issued against the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) stopping the authority from completing key sections of the busy highway.
The most affected area is the Kwa Jomvu section of the road, where construction works have now stalled as KeNHA has to comply with various court injunctions issued after several building owners went to court to stop the authority from implementing the project.
Consequently, the project, which was supposed to have been finished last year remains in limbo….as the contractor is forced to abandon sections of the highway where the court has issued injunctions against the demolition of buildings constructed on road reserves owned by the Government.
As a result, taxpayers risk losing billions of shillings in delayed works and penalties accruing as a result of the delays.
The road is a major cog in the important Northern Corridor that links Kenya to Uganda, DRC, and Rwanda.
Variously, the Government of Uganda has complained about the delay in the movement of goods along the corridor, occasioned by the delay in completing the road works.
The Road also links Mombasa highland to the airport and is the gateway to and from Mombasa, affecting the flow of goods to and from the port of Mombasa.
Some of the court cases have been filed by Barclays Bank of Kenya among other litigants.
Court cases filed against the Government in Mombasa are delaying the decongestion of the island.
The cases have delayed the construction of the Mombasa Kwa Jomvu road, inconveniencing traffic flow to the Moi International Airport.
Consequently, the works are below schedule and the contractor must navigate the 10 sections of the road where injunctions have been issued.
Matters have been made worse by delay in location of Kipevu Oil Pipeline by Kenya Petroleum Refineries(KPR).
At the same time, the National Land Commission (NLC) has forwarded compensation claims to a Government Multi-Task team for vetting.
The list was collated from a list submitted for vetting after the Treasury wired cash to compensate Project Affected Persons in Dongo Kundu, Kwale County.
Kenya National Highways Authority(KeNHA) is undertaking the project.
