Residents and businesses that have settled on land belonging to Moi International Airport in Mombasa could soon be forced out, after MPs instructed the government to take back every plot of airport land that has been illegally occupied.
During a session on Thursday, September 24, the National Assembly’s Transport Committee ordered Principal Secretary for Aviation Teresia Mbaika and Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) Managing Director Moses Wekesa to compile and submit a detailed report identifying all airport land currently under encroachment.
Lawmakers want the report to name every person and organization occupying or making use of airport property, as authorities work to free up the space needed for the facility’s upcoming expansion.
Committee Chair George Kariuki pushed for the directive after KAA flagged encroachment as one of the biggest obstacles standing in the way of the airport’s growth plans.
MPs pressed KAA officials on how the authority intends to nearly double the airport’s passenger capacity — from 2.5 million to 4.5 million — without first resolving the land disputes needed to support that growth. Kariuki put it directly to the officials, asking how such expansion could realistically happen when the necessary land hasn’t even been secured.
“This Committee needs to know how much airport land has been encroached upon and who is doing it. When you tell us that you want to increase the airport’s capacity from 2.5 million to 4.5 million passengers yet you have not secured the land, how will this happen?”
In response, Wekesa acknowledged that KAA has struggled to reclaim the affected parcels, despite taking several disputes to court and trying to act on recommendations from earlier investigations into the matter. He told the committee the authority remains committed to pursuing these cases and welcomed the chance to discuss the issue with lawmakers.
Wekesa also revealed that KAA had at one point stationed General Service Unit officers to protect airport land located outside the main facility, but said those officers were eventually pulled off duty on orders from elsewhere. He noted that the related disputes are still working their way through the courts.
“I want to cite a case here. We have been using GSU officers to guard the land outside the airport, but they received instructions to leave, and all these cases are in court,” Wekesa added.
This scrutiny comes as KAA pushes ahead with a broader, countrywide plan to modernize Kenya’s airports, which includes significant construction and upgrade work at Moi International Airport specifically.
Among the planned improvements are an extended main runway and expanded aircraft parking areas, changes designed to accommodate bigger planes and allow the airport to manage more flights at once. KAA is also planning upgrades to the terminal buildings, including a new passenger lounge at the domestic departures section aimed at easing overcrowding and making the travel experience smoother for passengers.
