Owners of illegal structures on government estates in Mombasa county have been told to remove them or brace for demolition in two months.
Mombasa housing committee, chaired by county commissioner John Otieno, said most government-owned estates have been turned into sprawling slums.
Rental houses built with iron sheets, workshops, garages and retail kiosks have been erected on government estates.
Otieno warned that the illegal structures in government estates would be brought down within 60 days.
“We have come face to face with the mushrooming of unauthorised structures that exist in government estates, and it’s a situation that we cannot allow to continue,” Otieno said.
This comes after the members of the housing committee toured various government estates and were shocked to find some estates in deplorable condition, with some resembling ramshackle shanties.
Further, the committee discovered that some residential houses had been converted to business units against the rules of government estates.
In various residences, the committee learned that forbidden strictures and businesses were thriving in the government estates.
Besides denying the government the much sought-after revenue, Otieno said, the businesses are a security threat and are a harbinger of land grabbing.
Furthermore, the committee noted that some tenants were using the state residences to sell drugs and other criminal activities.
"We will not allow government houses to be reduced into illegal business structures, drug dens and criminal hideouts,” the commissioner said.
The official also said that those found subletting government houses would be expelled from the residences.
"It is not fair for some civil servants to abuse the privilege of living in government quarters while other deserving public officers rent houses at market rate," Otieno said.
To weed out the vice, the commissioner directed the department of Housing to prepare a complete inventory of all government houses and a census of occupants.
While at it, Otieno urged civil servants to take advantage of the Housing Scheme Fund (CSHSF) that was established to help those of modest income to own affordable and decent homes.
