Former Kisumu governor Jack Ranguma has been restricted from engaging in activities likely to cause environmental harm in Lake Victoria.
This comes after Ranguma and Environment secretary Alice Kaudia were found to have encroached on the lake reserve through their parcels of land.
Environment and Land Court Justice S.M Kibunja issued the order on December 10 which was signed by the deputy registrar of the same court on December 14.
The order comes after the court adopted a surveyor’s report dated May 16 which revealed that the two encroached into land around Lake Victoria.
The two are the proprietors of Kisumu/Korando 3755, 3756 and Kisumu/Kogony/3583.
The survey was carried out following a court order issued to the surveyor and lands registrar to establish the boundaries of the plots in a legal suit of the lake reserve.
The Chairman of Magnam Environmental Network Michael Nyaguti had sued, Ranguma, Kaudia and former Nairobi governor Evans Kidero for encroachment of the lake.
Also sued are Nema and the Ministry of environment and natural resources.
Nyaguti told the court that the politicians had already fenced off plots beyond their demarcated boundaries.
This, he said, had resulted in encroachment into the riparian Lake Victoria wetlands.
He said there was need for the case to be expedited because encroachment of land in Kisumu was become a major concern.
In the findings, the surveyor, Geoffrey Mbok indicated that Ranguma had fenced off part of the lake reserve with a concrete wall fence.
He said that the extent of encroachment was of a triangular shape with an approximate area of 0.08 hectares.
Under Kaudia’s plot No 3583, the Environment secretary was found to have fenced off part of the lake reserve together with the access road that is meant to traverse along the lake.
“There are two semi-permanent houses that have been erected in this fenced region of the lake reserve. The access road along the lake as indicated on the map is not in use as per the time of the survey,” Mbok said.
A ground visit to the five plots belonging to Kidero was never carried out due to unavailability of the map
in the Lands ministry. The case will be mentioned on May 2, 2019.