The Bomas of Kenya has sued the Attorney General and a roads agency over failure to pay Sh85 million in compensation for land that was hived off to pave the way for expansion of Langata Road.
It says the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (Kura) and the National Land Commission (NLC) compulsorily acquired 0.8055 hectares or about two acres of its land for upgrade of the road.
“We have sued the Attorney General and Kura for failing to pay us our compensation dues. Kura, through a letter, accepted to compensate us but came back later to say that we are a public body and therefore we can’t be compensated,” Quresh Ahmed, the Bomas of Kenya general manager told the Public Investments Committee (PIC).
The land was hived off LR No 12066 for rehabilitating and upgrading the section of Langata Road lying between the KWS head office and Bomas of Kenya.
The government cultural village was to be paid Sh85 million as compensation for the acquisition based on valuation done by a local company. The compensation has not been paid, with Auditor-General Edward Ouko noting that no plausible reasons has been provided for failure to pay for the land surrendered for public use several years ago.
Mr Ahmed said Bomas will not relent in its quest for compensation and that the case will come up on May 9 for recording of consent.
“Bomas, the Ministry of Land, Kura and NLC met and discussed the issue of compensation but we didn’t agree.
“We have agreed that the matter will be mentioned in court on May 9, 2019 for us to record settlement if any,” Mr Ahmed told the committee chaired by Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir.
Mr Nassir had sought to know the action that the Bomas management had taken to recover the compensation claim that has remained outstanding for over three years.
“You have sued the Attorney General? I congratulate you. There is another State institution that appeared before us that didn’t even think of seeking the advice of the attorney general before making payments of Sh69 million for a project that delayed for 45 days. You have to safeguard the interest of Bomas,” Mr Nassir said.
The Bomas of Kenya management appeared before MPs to respond to audit queries raised by the auditor for the years 2012/13 to financial year 2016/17.