Kenya: multi-million dollar mall to be demolished for road construction
Multi-million dollar Taj Mall in Kenya is set to be demolished for road construction after the National Land Commission (NLC) rejected the title deed of the property.
Taj Mall stands on land that is among 70 parcels of land allocated by NLC for road expansion projects along the Outer Ring Road.
NLC chairman Muhammad Swazuri confirmed the news and said that the government compulsorily acquired the land in 1960 for the expansion of North Airport and Outer Ring Roads. In 2013, the Kenya Urban Roads Authority asked the land commission to investigate the legality of the land on which the mall is built.
The expansion project in Embakasi will be implemented by the Kenya Urban Roads Authority and will be executed in four phases.
Oil Libya in Embakasi, Safeway Supermarket, Jogoo Petrol Station in Outering and Gulf Energy are other businesses set to lose their premises to the road expansion project.
In the past, several demolitions of buildings have been carried out to pave way for road construction in the country.
The National Land Commission (NLC) is mandated to conduct research related to land and the use of natural resources, and make recommendations to appropriate authorities, to manage public land on behalf of the national and county governments, to recommend a national land policy to the national government.
