The Environment and Land Court in Mombasa has nullified the allocation of a public road reserve valued at approximately Sh25 million.
The property, Mombasa Municipality/Block XIX/305, lies along Machakos Road and provides an access route to the University of Nairobi’s Mombasa Campus.
Justice Y.M. Angima, in a judgment delivered on September 24, 2026, ruled that the property had been illegally and fraudulently excised from the road reserve and allocated in 1994.
The case was filed by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) following investigations into the alleged irregular allocation of land reserved for public use.
EACC’s investigations established that the property was allocated to the late Ezekiel Luyali, then a councillor at the Municipal Council of Mombasa. The commission said the process was facilitated by then Town Clerk David Kalume Randu and Mayor Ahmed Mwidhani.
The court found that the legal procedures required for closing a public road had not been followed.
Among the missing requirements were gazette notices announcing the proposed closure of the road, an approved Part Development Plan, a council or committee resolution authorising the allocation and ministerial approval of the purported 99-year alienation.
The court therefore declared the lease issued on September 1, 1994, and registered the following day null and void.
The Chief Land Registrar was ordered to cancel the lease entries from the register, while the Director of Surveys was directed to cancel Survey Plan Folio Register No. 264/37, which created the parcel.
The court also issued a permanent injunction preventing further dealings in the property, including its sale, transfer, leasing, charging or disposal.
EACC said the ruling underscores the need for public land and other resources reserved for public use to be protected and managed strictly in accordance with the law.
