Court Stops Construction of Railway Line in Karen After Complaints by Residents 

A judge has halted the construction of a railway line from Ngong to Riruta by the Kenya Railway Corporation (KRC).

The Environment and Land Court judge Anne Omollo however stopped the construction pending the determination of a petition filed by Karen Lang’ata Ward residents and land owners.

“That orders are hereby issued that no activities be undertaken on the project/ construction pending hearing and determination of this project,” stated the order.

The judge further directed the transport Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir and Principal Secretary and Mohamed Daghar and Attorney General Dorcas Oduor to file their responses in the matter within 10 days, setting the mention date on September 25, 2024.

Karen Residents and land owners through their association Karen Langata Development Association (KLDA) moved to court alleging that there was no proper and complete engagement process before they started building the 12.1 kilometer railway line.

They challenged the CS’s decision to build the 12.1km railway line at Sh8.7 billion, despite the presence of an existing, underutilized train station just 3 kilometers away.

They said the current station, which serves Syokimau and Mlolongo has enough space and parking for commuters from areas like Ngong Town, Bulbul and Veterinary Farm.

KLDA said the poor access to the existing train station was due to lack of a connecting 1.6 kilometers road from Ngong.

They argued that constructing the road would be far cheaper and more beneficial than the proposed railway line which they said would still require commuters to use other transport after alighting at Riruta.

“One wonders, would our hard-earned taxpayer money be better spent on developing a 1.6km road to an existing station as opposed to a 12.1km railway line at a cost of Sh8.7 billion that will not help the commuters? They will still need to alight at Riruta and use other transport. As a citizen of Kenya, a layman’s estimate would be that the road would be at least one tenth of the cost,” they said.

In the petition the Kenya Railways Corporation, China Railways Design Corporation, Apec Consortium Co. Limited, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of roads and Transport, Principal Secretary, Ministry of roads and Transport and the Attorney General have been sued.