• On August 21, 2020, the county government listed 135 plots that have remained undeveloped.
• Some owners of the listed challenged the plans by the county government to repossess their parcels in September.
Image: HILTON OTENYO
The Kakamega government is set to hear appeals against its decision to repossess undeveloped plots within the municipality.
In an advertisement in local dailies, lands executive Robert Makhanu said the land application, extension of leases and land administration committee will start hearing the appeals in the next two weeks.
Any person, organisation or institution that has appealed has been asked to pick suitable dates for the hearing of their appeal within 14 days from yesterday.
"The county government of Kakamega, through the appeals panel of the Kakamega county land application, extension of leases and land administration committee, shall commence to hear and determine appeals in respect of the decision of the government to repossess public land which had been allocated but remains undeveloped within Kakamega Municipality," the advert reads.
The county government listed 135 plots it says were allocated and have remained undeveloped on its website in an advertisement on August 21, 2020.
Owners of the targeted parcels were asked to appeal to the committee by filing letters of allotment, evidence of payment of allotment fees, copies of duly signed and executed documents, current searches and rent and rates, payment receipts and clearance certificates and a copy of the approved building plans.
But some owners of the listed plots in September challenged the plans by the county government to repossess their parcels. They obtained orders restraining it from repossessing the parcels.
Some complained that the selection of the plots to be repossessed was biased as some vacant plots owned by relatives or cronies of senior county officials had been excluded from the list.
On July 5, 2020, the county government had a directive to owners of plots in Jua Kali area in the town to carry out structural audits of their buildings by a qualified structural engineer to establish suitability.
The county asked all tenants in Jua Kali to vacate their premises until the buildings are inspected and approved by the county government as safe for occupation.
The county said the buildings were constructed without requisite approval and occupied without obtaining occupation certificates, hence exposing tenants to danger since the structural stability of the buildings is unknown.