Kenya’s investors lost billions of shillings this year following the demolition of buildings constructed on riparian areas, road reserves and public land.
These were some of the biggest demolitions:
Grand Manor
The five-star hotel was located next to the Botswana Embassy to its right and the Moroccan Embassy to its left. Surrounding the hotel along Gigiri Drive was a concrete perimeter wall, at least three metres high with metallic grills on top.
Across the road is the Unep headquarters. Grand Manor was brought down in the wee hours of December 13 on grounds that it was a security threat to the US embassy.
Property managers, Whitehorse Investments Limited, petitioning the decision, said it had spent over Sh200 million on the project which was 75 per cent complete.
South End mall
The Sh1 billion five-storey building along Lang’ata road was brought down on August 8, 2018, on grounds it was sitting on riparian land. The demolition caught many tenants unawares with many crying foul, syaing they had not been informed.
A three-storey building next to the mall, which belonged to former Bobasi MP Stephen Manoti, was also brought down. The construction of the building sparked a public uproar in 2013 after environmental activists said it was sitting on top of Mutuini-Ngong River.
It was said to be interfering with the natural flow of the water and was in 2015 blamed for the heavy flooding in South C, Nairobi West and Madaraka estates.
Taj Mall
Airgate, formerly known as Taj Mall, was sitting on reserves of the Outering Road in Embakasi. As tenants vacated the building, Gorasia stood his ground saying he genuinely bought the 1.75 acres in 1991 and another two acres in 1995, both from Abuja Limited.
Kura said the building had hindered the completion of the expansion of Outering Road. It argued the design of the road had been changed owing to the building’s existence but there was still not enough space for construction of a service lane.
This has made vehicles terminate on the overpass, causing heaving traffic jam on the busy 13km road. Gorasia questioned why the government demolished the entire building despite the National Land Commission having only revoked a title of part – 1.75 acres – of the of the 3.75-acre plot .
According to government papers, the title for the land where the building stands was revoked in September 2015 by the NLC.
The authority established that the government had acquired it in 1960 for the future expansion of Outering Road and North Airport Road. Gorasia said the structure which was built in 2008 was launched in 2011 by the then Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka.
He claimed he lost items worth Sh3 million to looters during the operation. The mall was in october valued at Sh7.2 billion by a valuation firm – Redfern.