High Court Stops Affordable Housing Project on Mau Mau Heritage Site in Kiambu

An Environment and Land Court judge has issued conservatory orders freezing all activity on a contested 58-acre parcel in Githunguri, Kiambu County, where the government had commenced preparatory works for an affordable housing project. The ruling puts one of President William Ruto's flagship construction programmes at odds with constitutional protections over heritage and culture.

Justice Ann Mogeni issued the orders following a petition filed by the Agikuyu Council of Elders and three other petitioners, effectively halting any works on the land until the full petition is heard and determined. The judge ordered a complete status quo freeze on the property.

The case was brought by Reuben Gichungu Kungu, James Nene, Kimani Charagu acting as an official of the Maina and Mwangi Trust, and Peter Mudinia. They argue the government fenced off the land and began preparatory construction without public participation, prior notice, or consultation with the Agikuyu community, in what they characterise as a direct violation of several constitutional articles, including Articles 10, 11, 19, 35, 40, and 44.

Eight respondents have been named in the petition: the Cabinet Secretary for Lands, the Principal Secretary for Housing, the Cabinet Secretary for Gender, Culture, the Arts and Heritage, the National Museums of Kenya, the County Government of Kiambu, and the Attorney General.

The site, known as Githunguri Kia Wairera, carries deep historical weight. In the early 1930s, the land was set aside by several Agikuyu age groups for an indigenous African institution of higher learning. By 1937, it became home to Kiriri, widely regarded as Kenya's first modern girls' dormitory, established under the leadership of Mbiyu Koinange with support from Jomo Kenyatta.

The National Land Commission formally recognised the parcel, registered as Githunguri/Githunguri/T.801, as a gazetted heritage site in 2019. The petitioners also point to Gazette Notice No. 244 of January 14, 2011, under which the Githunguri Gallows was declared a protected area, alongside declarations of the Kiriri Girls' Dormitory, Jomo Kenyatta's College Residence, and Mbiu Koinange's College Residence as national monuments. Those gazette notices, they argue, have never been lawfully revoked.

Separate from the Agikuyu Council of Elders petition, another organisation, the Kenya Unity for Memorial Peace Heritage and Culture Organisation (KUMPHCO), had earlier filed a related case at the Kiambu Law Courts in February 2026. That petition seeks to have the land declared a protected Mau Mau heritage site, on the grounds that it served as an execution ground during the 1950s colonial Emergency, where 54 freedom fighters were allegedly hanged. In that separate matter, a different judge, Lady Justice Dorah Chepkwony, declined to issue conservatory orders, finding insufficient evidence of irreparable harm, though she directed parties to maintain the status quo pending a substantive hearing scheduled for April 15, 2026.

A heritage group has also alleged that heavy machinery was deployed at the site, flattening land believed to contain the remains of freedom fighters executed during the colonial period.

The Chairman of the Kikuyu Council of Elders, Wachira Kiago, said the elders had already appealed directly to the Head of State, urging him to halt what he described as "provocation and the outrageous humiliation of a community."

Under Justice Mogeni's orders in the Agikuyu Council of Elders petition, the petitioners are required to serve all respondents within 14 days. Government agencies and the Cabinet Secretary for Lands have a further 14 days to file their responses. The matter is scheduled to return to court for further directions on July 6, 2026.