Blow to Jamia Mosque as Ksh.3.9B land compensation claim against Nairobi County dismissed

The Land Acquisition Tribunal has dismissed a Ksh.3.9 billion compensation claim against the Nairobi City County Government filed by the Registered Trustees of Jamia Mosque over a hotly contested 5.14-acre parcel at Globe Cinema Roundabout.

In a ruling expected to set a precedent for future land disputes in the capital, the tribunal not only threw out the compensation claim but also quashed five Gazette Notices issued between 2021 and 2023 by the National Land Commission (NLC).

The notices—Nos. 5402 and 10279 of 2021, 207 and 15995 of 2022, and 641 of January 19, 2023—had sought to pave the way for compulsory acquisition of the land.

The disputed land located in the busy Central Business District (CBD) has long been used as a matatu terminus under a decongestion plan rolled out by the now-defunct Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS).

Jamia Mosque trustees had been claiming to be the rightful owners of the land and were therefore entitled to compensation.

However, the tribunal found that the NLC’s attempt to acquire the land lacked legal backing, citing the absence of requisite authorisation from the Nairobi County Government.

The county, through its lawyer Christine Ireri, had moved to court arguing that the acquisition was never budgeted for, nor was it included in the County’s Integrated Development Plan (CIDP).

Urban Planning County Executive Committee Member (CECM) Patrick Mbogo also affirmed that the process was neither initiated nor approved by the county.

City Hall further distanced itself from the process, and in its defence stated it did not inherit any land acquisition obligations from the NMS, which was a temporary agency created in 2020, emphasising that its legal predecessor remains the now-defunct Nairobi City Council.

The NLC, through lawyer Titus Koceyo, had argued that Jamia Mosque retains legal ownership of the land and that no formal takeover had taken place.

The tribunal however, ruled in favour of the county, offering a temporary legal reprieve to City Hall.