Kenya MPs direct State to reclaim encroached Moi International Airport land as evictions loom
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Parliament's Transport Committee has ordered the Aviation Principal Secretary and the Kenya Airports Authority to table a report on encroached Moi International Airport land, opening the way for possible evictions as the airport pursues an expansion.
Kenyans occupying Moi International Airport land in Mombasa face possible eviction after Parliament directed the government to reclaim all encroached airport land, which the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) says it needs for a planned expansion.
The National Assembly's Transport Committee issued the directive on Thursday, September 24, ordering Aviation Principal Secretary Teresia Mbaika and KAA Managing Director Moses Wekesa to submit a report detailing all encroached airport land, including a list of the individuals and companies occupying or using parcels at Moi Airport.
Committee chairperson George Kariuki said the panel needed to know how much airport land had been encroached upon and by whom. He questioned how KAA intended to increase the airport's capacity from the current 2.5 million passengers to 4.5 million without first securing the land required for the expansion.
Wekesa told the committee that the authority had faced challenges in securing the affected land despite pursuing several cases in court and implementing recommendations contained in previous reports. He disclosed that KAA had previously deployed General Service Unit officers to guard land outside the airport, but said the officers were later instructed to leave and that the cases remain in court.
The directive comes as the government, through KAA, continues to implement a nationwide airport modernisation strategy involving major infrastructure upgrades and expansion at Moi International Airport.