Africa-Press – Kenya. A tycoon is set to receive Ksh 715 million payout from the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) after successfully suing the government parastatal for breach of contract.
The businessman who owns a private firm leased a seven-acre land from KPA in 2009 for 33 years with an agreement that he would develop it within two years.
KPA had intended to use the land for the construction of a warehouse, offices and a cargo station but offered the land to the businessman who intended to build a liquefied petroleum gas station.
The tycoon’s company was also set to install street lights, a septic tank and a drainage system.
Two years later in 2011, the firm failed to develop the land and in 2017, it failed to apply for a lease extension. It also had left the land underdeveloped.
KPA took over the land saying that it intended to construct a public road. It also assured the tycoon that it would compensate him.
However, the businessman rejected the proposal and insisted that KPA had breached the lease agreement. The two parties moved to court but were asked to resolve the matter amicably through a mediator.
The third party directed KPA to pay the trader Ksh 715 million for its own land, prompting an uproar from Coast residents and activists who argued that KPA failed to protest the ruling.
They also sought court orders seeking to bar the tycoon from being compensated saying that the agreement between the two was marred with corruption and embezzlement of public coffers.
The residents further ccomplained that KPA had also failed to convince the court that the businessman breached the terms of the agreement as he was to develop the land in two years.
