Mombasa govt vows to fight for fair compensation

Mombasa residents in the path of the standard gauge railway must be fairly compensated before construction starts, Land CEC member Francis Thoya said on Friday.

Mr Thoya said the county would stand with the people and no amount of intimidation would lessen their resolve in demanding just treatment of those on the eight kilometre stretch in Skembo and Maganda.

“County officials are being threatened with arrests in the name of incitement. If that is what it takes to defend the people and get just compensation, we are ready even now to be arrested,” he said in response to a warning by County Commissioner Nelson Marwa.

The county executive said informing people of their rights is not incitement.

Mr Marwa on Thursday said anybody "inciting" residents of Changamwe, Jomvu and other areas where the project is set to pass would be arrested but stopped short of naming those implicated.

Politicians, the Chinese contractor and representatives of the national government must keep off the land in contention until a team from the National Land Commission develops a proper compensation mechanism, Mr Thoya said.

“The National Land Commission has admitted there was something wrong with the evaluation for compensation. The contractor must keep off Skembo, Maganda and other affected areas. If they do not, we shall stop them even if it means us being arrested for doing so,” he said.

LOW PAYMENTS

Last Saturday, Mr Thoya said, Governor Hassan Joho, the representatives of the Chinese contractor, the county commissioner, NLC chairman Muhammad Swazuri and other stakeholders met and agreed to halt any activity pending the resolution of the dispute.

“The county government is opposed, not to the project, but to the meagre payments, some as low as Sh5,465. Parties in the meeting agreed that the Land commission re-examines the compensation. We are surprised that the county commissioner is saying the county government is inciting the public,” Mr Thoya said.

About Sh4.4 billion was provided to help the more than 480 families affected by the project settle elsewhere to pave the way for the project.

The county official claimed tycoons purporting to own title deeds for land in Jomvu and Chamangamwe were engineering the meagre payments in order to “gobble up the rest of the money” and asked the residents to stay put until the matter is settled.

Section 62 (2) of the Constitution places land and planning under county governments.

In a notice sent to the China Road and Bridge Corporation manager, dated June 11, 2015, the county government said the project was planned without consultation contrary to the Physical Planning Act Cap 206.

Among other issues addressed in the Act is the release of a Relocation Action Plan to cater for the resettlement of the affected parties.

Despite the commencement of the project, Mr Thoya said, the government has not produced the relocation plan, which the county planning officials must first approve.