{"id":23163,"date":"2026-01-14T15:37:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T15:37:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/23163\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T15:37:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T15:37:11","slug":"wamatangi-property-demolition-not-selective-or-politically-motivated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/23163\/","title":{"rendered":"Wamatangi property demolition not selective or politically motivated"},"content":{"rendered":"

Businesses linked to the Kiambu Governor along Douglas Wakiihiru road next to Nyayo Stadium, were demolished overnight<\/p>\n

Businesses linked to Kiambu Governor Kimani Wamatangi along Douglas Wakiihiru road next to Nyayo Stadium were demolished overnight on January 14, 2025.\/DOUGLAS OKIDDY<\/p>\n

Kiambu Governor Kimani Wamatangi is facing scrutiny after
\nwhat officials describe as negligence and arrogance culminated in the demolition of
\nhis business premises along Douglas Wakiihuri Road, off Lang\u2019ata Road.<\/p>\n

Kenya Railways has blamed the governor of allegedly ignoring a lawful
\nnotice to vacate public land issued six years ago, leaving authorities with no
\noption but to reclaim the property through enforcement.<\/p>\n

Kenya Railways has reiterated that the demolitions are not selective
\nor politically motivated, but part of a firm and lawful campaign to protect
\npublic assets and pave the way for transformative development.<\/p>\n

According to the corporation, the land\u2014located along a
\ncritical railway corridor near Nyayo and Talanta Stadiums\u2014forms part of the
\ncorporation\u2019s legally protected reserve.<\/p>\n

Wamatangi allegedly chose defiance, continuing to operate
\nbusinesses on the land in total disregard of the law and public interest.<\/p>\n

The governor has, however, claimed political persecution
\nfollowing the overnight demolition of his property.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an act of cowardice.\u00a0 What happened here is all about politics,\u201d he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n

The overnight operation involved bulldozers and excavators,
\nescorted by police officers, that flattened semi-permanent structures on the
\nsite.<\/p>\n

Businesses affected included a car yard, a car wash, and a
\nrestaurant, with several vehicles and other property damaged in the process.<\/p>\n

By morning, the scale of destruction underscored what
\nofficials termed as \u201cavoidable losses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Debris littered the area, while sections of Douglas
\nWakiihuri Road were temporarily closed, disrupting movement near the busy
\ncorridor.<\/p>\n

Nairobi Police Commander George Seda confirmed that officers
\nwere deployed to provide security and assist Kenya Railways in repossessing the
\nland, stressing that the parastatal had exhausted all legal and administrative
\nchannels.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe management says they notified the owner of the property
\nto vacate, but there was resistance. We came in to help with the demolition,\u201d
\nSeda said, adding that no injuries were reported.<\/p>\n

Kenya Railways has strongly defended the operation,
\ndescribing it as part of a bold, disciplined and long-overdue recovery drive
\naimed at reclaiming public land unlawfully occupied by private developers.<\/p>\n

Under the leadership of Managing Director Philip Mainga, the
\ncorporation has intensified efforts to repossess encroached land across the
\ncountry to unlock stalled development projects.<\/p>\n

The reclaimed land along the Lang\u2019ata corridor is said to be
\nearmarked for major railway infrastructure expansion linked to Talanta Stadium
\nand other developments that are expected to create thousands of jobs, boost
\nlogistics efficiency, and stimulate economic growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cPublic land must serve the public good, not individual
\ninterests,\u201d a senior Kenya Railways official said, noting that the recovery
\nprogramme is being carried out professionally, transparently and without fear
\nor favour.<\/p>\n

Kenya Railways has reiterated that the demolitions are not
\nselective or politically motivated, but part of a firm and lawful campaign to
\nprotect public assets and pave the way for transformative development.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Businesses linked to the Kiambu Governor along Douglas Wakiihiru road next to Nyayo Stadium, were demolished overnight Businesses…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23164,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[14273,14271,80,14272,14275,14274,98,100,101,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-23163","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kenya","8":"tag-demolition","9":"tag-governor-kimani-wamatangi","10":"tag-kenya","11":"tag-kenya-railways","12":"tag-notice-to-vacate","13":"tag-public-land","14":"tag-star-news","15":"tag-star-news-kenya","16":"tag-the-star","17":"tag-the-star-newspaper"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}