The demolition of properties built on road by-passes has started once again. Roads minister Kipkalya Kones has said that the exercise will continue and will only end when all structures that are on the land earmarked for the by-passes are brought down.

While we sympathise with the hundreds of investors who had put their money into the structures, the demolitions should be a signal to all investors to follow the legal process in any acquisition of land and question any transactions that come their way.May 15, 2008: The demolition of properties built on road by-passes has started once again.

Roads minister Kipkalya Kones has said that the exercise will continue and will only end when all structures that are on the land earmarked for the by-passes are brought down.

While we sympathise with the hundreds of investors who had put their money into the structures, the demolitions should be a signal to all investors to follow the legal process in any acquisition of land and question any transactions that come their way.

Some lessons are usually learned the hard way. But we must also ask the bitter questions: where was the government when all this land was allocated? Surely, there must be names behind these deals and these are the people who should take the blame even before we demolish the buildings.

The people who built on the by-pass have names of the officials they paid and have been left cuddling receipts and letters of allotment. Who will pay for this loss?

These are questions that should be answered and the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission should investigate this swindling of Kenyans by both government and land agents. The demolitions should also be a warning to all investors in property.

All land in this country has a history and it is easy to trace the background information. We have witnessed the tears as properties worth millions of shillings are brought down. But on the same vein we have in this country witnessed the greed for land that saw government property turned to private use.

This must be recovered, no matter the amount of pain inflicted on the pseudo-owners. The relevance of this is to send a strong statement that no matter how long it takes, public property will never be acquired illegally. This is not the first time that property along the by-passes has been targeted.

Actually, the High Court ruled against those holding letters of allotment for land at Mlolongo arguing that these were not genuine title-deed holders. There are several civil and criminal issues that arise.

The said property owners could have been victims of fraud by unscrupulous government officials and land agents. One option is still open to them. They can lodge a civil case in court and sue those who sold them the land. Secondly, they can voluntarily pull down the buildings to minimise the losses.

But these options are drying out as the frenzy to knock down all buildings along the by-pass continues. The Ministry of Roads should put in place a mechanism to address the complaints arising from some of the owners of the buildings being destroyed.