The High Court has stopped any planned sale of parcels of land where Busia Airstrip stands, pending the determination of a case filed by activist Okiya Omtatah.
WESTERN
Civil Society Activist Okiya Omtata at the Supreme Court during the 2017 Presidential petition [Boniface Okendo, Standard]
Activist Okiya Omtatah has filed a petition under a certificate of urgency to stop the sale of 25 acres Busia Airstrip land by a private developer.
An advertisement in a local daily last week had invited willing buyers.
But Omtatah wants the court to intervene and restore to public ownership the entire Busia Airstrip land along the Busia-Kisumu Highway, which was alienated for public purposes in the 1960s “but has been grabbed by private entities”.
“Since the land was acquired by the State for free from the locals who willingly gave it up for public purpose, it must be put to use by the public,” he said.