Blow to North Highridge School as Court Allows Mandera Governor’s Flats on Grabbed Land

North Highridge Primary School has suffered a major setback in its long-running land dispute after the Environment and Land Court declined to stop construction of a high-rise apartment project linked to Mandera Governor Mohamed Adan Khalif on a contested Parklands property.

In a ruling delivered in Nairobi, the court refused to grant the school a temporary injunction to halt the development, finding that the Board of Management had not placed sufficient documentary evidence before the court to prove ownership of the specific parcel under dispute.

The decision clears the way for construction to proceed pending a full hearing of the case.

Justice Christine Ochieng said the school’s filings detailed a history of alleged land loss dating back to the mid-1990s, but failed to establish, at the interlocutory stage, a prima facie case over LR No. 209/21526, the parcel on which the apartments are being built.

She held that claims of fraud, illegal excisions and forged records could only be determined after a substantive trial.

The disputed project involves a multi-storey residential development approved for 160 housing units.

The governor maintains that he lawfully acquired the land in 2021 at a reported cost of Sh140 million and obtained all statutory approvals before commencing construction.

The National Construction Authority has confirmed that the developer complied with regulatory requirements prior to resuming works earlier this year.

North Highridge School, however, insists the land forms part of its original 2.2-hectare compound that was set aside for educational purposes and has been systematically reduced through what it describes as decades of irregular surveys, excisions and re-registrations.

According to court documents, the school’s original parcel, LR No. 209/8262, was allegedly altered and portions carved out and reissued under new numbers, including LR No. 209/21526.

The school further alleges that government officials and statutory agencies colluded to sanitise the transfers, issuing certificates and approvals that made the transactions appear lawful.

It says one of the excised parcels was first allocated to Nairobi County, later passed to a private individual, and eventually acquired by the governor.

Beyond ownership, the school has raised concerns about the impact of the construction on learning. Management says the development has eaten into playgrounds, damaged perimeter fences and displaced the head teacher’s residence.

Classrooms now sit only metres from the rising structure, which parents and teachers argue poses safety risks and has worsened congestion in a school that hosts ECDE, primary, junior and secondary sections.

Records before the court show the dispute was reported at Parklands Police Station in May 2024, even as planning approvals continued.

The school also pointed to an apparent contradiction by Nairobi City County, which in 2019 indicated the land belonged to the school, but later approved building permits in September 2024 for the housing project under the governor’s name.

An environmental report submitted to NEMA in April 2025 reportedly cautioned against premature construction.

Despite these concerns, the court ruled that the threshold for stopping the project had not been met at this stage.

As a result, construction will continue as the main suit proceeds, where the court will interrogate the legality of historical surveys, transfers and titles linked to the land.

The school is seeking revocation of the disputed titles, restoration of the land to its original boundaries, and legal action against officials involved in the alleged irregular transfers.

For now, however, the ruling represents a significant blow to its bid to reclaim what it says is part of its historic compound.