Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho has suffered a setback after the Court of Appeal on Monday halted the county government’s multi-billion housing project.

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In their ruling, judges Alnashir Visram, Wanjiru Karanja, and Martha Koome barred Joho’s administration from evicting tenants and demolishing houses in 10 estates to pave way for the Sh200 billion housing project.

This comes after three organisations; Legal Advice Centre, Haki Yetu St Patricks, and Transparency International Kenya, through lawyer Willis Oluga appealed a ruling made last year by High Court Judge Patrick Otieno.

In his ruling on December 23, 2016, Justice Otieno gave the project a green light, arguing that the county government had undertaken public participation in the implementation of the project.

The judge also ruled that the petitioners had failed to demonstrate that the project, which is part of the county’s Vision 2030, would interfere with the resident’s right to housing.

In his appeal, Oluga, however, argued that the county did not have a record of the genuine tenants who would be relocated when the project is implemented.

“How the respondents intend to relocate people they do not have a record of is baffling. The respondents ought to have identified the genuine and legal tenants, not only for the purpose of relocation but also for their participation in the project at inception,” said Oluga, as quoted by the Standard.