Mombasa county government on Monday halted another attempt to erect a perimeter wall on a controversial parcel of land registered to KBC.
This led to a standoff between county askaris who stopped the construction and police officers deployed to oversee the wall's erection.
Both the county government and the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation claim ownership of the 22-acre parcel of land.
On Sunday, Coast regional coordinator Nelson Marwa threatened Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho with arrests after he led a group of youths to demolish the wall.
Among those supervising the construction on Monday were senior police officers led by Kisauni police boss Richard Ngatia, a contigent of regular police drawn from Nyali police station and a special unit of flying squad officers.
KBC had hired casual workers to commence the construction before the exercise was halted by the county officials.
County executive for Lands, Anthony Njaramba, said the ongoing construction was illegal since the contractor had no permit to proceed with the construction,
Njaramba said the contractor was violating the County physical –planning act that approves any construction.
“We cannot allow any construction to proceed unless the contractor has the certificate of construction, approved by the county government. The ongoing construction is illegal and we urge the contractor to stop any activities," he said.
The contractor was kicked out of the site and instructed to seek approval from the county government before constructing a perimeter wall around the land as police officers watched.
Njaramba further claimed the State parastal own the defunct municipal council over Sh840 million in land rates pending for more than 20 years.
The national broadcaster and the county have been tussling over the land, which was being used as a dump site by the county before.
Joho said the county intends to use the VOK grounds to expand the Kongowea market.
The Governor had accused Marwa of giving the contractor a go ahead to put up the wall, yet he did not have the mandate.
Marwa pointed out that it was wrong for the governor to demolish the perimeter wall constructed around the land with impunity.
But KBC’s Coast Regional Controller Mwana Suleiman had said the corporation had fulfilled all the requirements by the county, including payment for the approval of erecting the wall.
The contractor Michael Keha said he will be seeking approvals from the county government before proceeding with any works.