Tatu City Management has accused Kiambu Governor Wamatangi of abuse of office and thwarting their plans to develop their investment.
The management has further accused the Governor together with the County Executive Committee Member Lands, physical planning, municipal administration and urban development Salome Wainaina of extortion.
Tatu City is a 5,000-acre mixed-use development with Special Economic Zone status based in Kiambu County.
In a press briefing, Preston Mendenhall, the Executive Vice President and Country Head Rendeavour in Kenya said they will not surrender any land to the County government for construction without any pay.
“It is very unfortunate that the success of Tatu City has attracted opportunistic politicians in the country. The attempt by the Governor and his aide who have been harassing us for the last one and a half year over the approval of the Tatu city new master plan just to seize over 40 acres of land is uncalled for and doesn’t follow the law,” he said.
Mendenhall explained that the land the governor is trying to take from the developmental firm is valued around Ksh 4.3billion (USD 33 million) and therefore by the governor threatening and refusing the Tatu City Master Plan, which is key to investment would not be approved until they get free land is unethical.
“The delay of the governor on the development of the development land has cost the County and country more than Sh16 billion, that’s about (USD 125 million), in additional investment in the country and county, and it has also cost 4,500 new jobs for young Kenyans,” he said.
Mendenhall added that Tatu city adheres to Kenyan and international best practices in urban planning saying that the master plan has 103 acres of land set aside for public purpose use and is available for public amenitiesm such as hospitals, schools, police and fire stations.
He continued to say that the Land Act of Kenya provides that if the government requires land for public purpose, a compulsory acquisition process must follow, meaning that the land must first be acquired by the government through a process of just and equitable compensation to the landowner, in this case, Tatu City.
Mendenhall added that despite scheduled meetings to which the governor’s office had arranged, it has never materialised, thus disappointing to the biggest foreign direct investors and job creators in Kiambu County.
Tatu City is one of the largest locations of job creation in the entire country and has created more than 20,000 jobs.
There are 82 businesses, among them some of the leading Kenyan and international companies. More than 385 billion shillings of investment has been catalysed by Tatu City.
Through manufacturing the international partners have established the largest call centre in East Africa that employs 5,000 young Kenyans and will double in size to create 10,000 jobs in the next couple years. It also boasts of two public primary schools that support 1,500 children through provision of a meal a day.
Tatu city is also open to the public and has 60 kilometres of roads that anyone can use, high speed fibre that provides internet for local communities living around.
By Wangari Ndirangu
