Portland Cement Orders Athi River Squatters to Pay or Vacate Sh4.6 Billion Land

The East African Portland Cement (EAPC) has issued a final notice to individuals occupying its multi-billion-shilling land in Athi River, ordering them to pay up or prepare for immediate eviction.

According to a public notice, the long-running regularisation process for the land parcels in Mavoko will officially close on July 28, 2026.

This deadline marks the end of a program, which began on October 17, 2023.

The program allowed illegal occupants to formalise their residency, but they must now meet the final financial conditions.

The cement manufacturer stated that those, who registered during the exercise, must clear all outstanding regularisation fees by August 15, 2026.

Occupants, who fail to complete their payments by this date, will be required to vacate the plots they occupy, if they want to avoid forceful eviction.

Furthermore, the company announced that all unclaimed plots will be offered to the general public for purchase at competitive market rates.

EAPC expects the land sale to raise critical capital, which will fund its ambitious industrial expansion plans.

Specifically, the firm plans to reinvest the proceeds to upgrade its current plant clinker production capacity from 1,680 tonnes to 2,500 tonnes daily.

The company also plans to build a new integrated plant with a capacity of 5,000 tonnes.

Once both plants are running, they will produce 7,500 tonnes of clinker daily, although this depends on successful fund raising.

This development will allow the firm to manufacture 15,000 tonnes of cement daily, when the new facilities become fully operational.

EAPC plans to run these expansion projects debt-free, avoiding the expensive loans, which previously crippled its operations.

The firm previously struggled with heavy debts, which nearly led to the auction of its key assets by lenders seeking recovery.

Part of the proceeds will also be used to pay dividends to shareholders, as the land was previously held as an idle asset.

This aggressive asset clean-up follows a recent shake-up in the ownership structure of the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) listed company.

Tanzanian conglomerate Amsons Group completed the acquisition of a 68.7 percent majority stake in the cement maker in November 2025.

Amsons Group acquired an initial 29.2 percent stake from Holcim Group, and later bought out the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) shareholding.

To help with documentation, EAPC appointed HFCB Properties Limited (HPL) as the official consultant to manage the payment procedures.

The consultant has established a dedicated site office in Mavoko to assist the claimants with their land documentation and payments.

The disputed land, which spans hundreds of acres, has been at the center of protracted legal battles in Machakos County.

Recently, local leaders have called upon President William Ruto to intervene, as many families face displacement due to high regularisation costs.

Under the terms of the program, occupants are expected to pay a regularisation fee of 200,000 Kenyan Shillings (KES) per plot.

This administrative fee covers valuation, survey, and titling costs, but many local residents argue that the overall land costs remain prohibitive.

With the July 28 deadline fast approaching, thousands of occupants are racing against time to formalise their plots and secure tenure.

The firm is confident that resolving this land dispute will finally allow it to focus entirely on expanding its local cement production.