Legal setback for Ruto's affordable housing project

The government has suffered a major setback after the Environment and Land Court in Bungoma declared the Ksh5bn ($38m) Kanduyi Airstrip affordable housing project unconstitutional, reports the Kenyans. In a judgment delivered on 8 October, Justice Kossy Bors suspended the project for violating constitutional requirements on public participation and environmental protection. The government had planned to construct 2 034 housing units under the Kanduyi Airstrip Smart City Affordable Housing Project, with a construction contract worth Ksh5.02bn. However, three petitioners challenged the project over an alleged failure to follow procedures for converting the airstrip into residential land. In their application, the petitioners argued that the land was reserved for aviation and should remain available for the expansion of Kanduyi Airstrip. They maintained that any change of use or de-gazettement should have followed the law and involved meaningful public participation. The court found that the respondents had not demonstrated compliance with the required procedures for changing the land's use from an aviation reserve to a housing development. Additionally, the court found that the project had proceeded without compliance with applicable environmental and physical planning laws, raising further questions about the legality of the development. Following the findings, the court barred the government from using the land for purposes that violate the judgment and ordered it to restore it to its original condition within 45 days at its own cost. The court also ordered an environmental and land-use audit and directed the respondents to pay the petitioners' legal costs, putting the future of the housing project in doubt. The latest ruling came just days after the Court of Appeal upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Housing Act, 2024, in a separate case that had challenged the legal framework governing the programme.

Full report on the Kenyans site