Parklands Mosque construction starts after court dismisses petition

An artist’s impression of Parklands mosque in Nairobi

The redevelopment of the Parklands mosque in Nairobi is in progress after the high court dismissed a petition which aimed at preventing the construction process.
An area resident Bernice Wanjiku Gachegu went to court raising objections against the construction on the grounds that it was detrimental to the structural integrity of her home.
Bernice who is the Registar General, further argued that the proposed mosque would diminish the value of the land on which her house stands.
The Parklands Mosque and Madrasah Committee however, dismissed the petition as a fallacy stating that it had received all the necessary approval from the Nairobi County Council and the National Environment Management Agency (NEMA) which had carried out due diligence on the project.
In his ruling, high court judge John Mutungi stated that the petition lacked merit and said the construction of the project should proceed. “I am satisfied that there is no evidence of any eminent danger of the plaintiff’s house collapsing by reason of the excavations,” he said.
From a temporary structure which served the community since 1993, the redevelopment will see the construction of a modern mosque with amenities which include education facilities, library, and a commercial center among other facilities.
Meanwhile, members of the mosque have termed as unfair a decision to allocate a piece of land which had earlier belonged to the mosque to Bernice Gachegu.
In a petition to the National Lands Commission, Tarus Muhammad, Haji Saleh Timami and Musa Quadir said the property was purchased by the Parklands Mosque and Madrassa Society in 2009 but the State demanded it back as a government building had been constructed on the land.
The following year, in unexplained circumstances, the land was allocated to Bernice and a title issued to her. “Our clients are of the strong view that if the government was no longer interested in the property know as L.R No. 17040 and the building erected thereon, the fair and just action it should have taken was to return the said property back to Parklands Mosque and Madrasa Society, who had donated the same to the Government and not to allocate the same to a third party,” said a petition from Nairobi advocate S.O. Owino and Associates.
The three officials have called on the Commission to investigate the matter and also cancel the title and return the property back to Parklands Mosque.

-The Friday Bulletin