Kenya's NEMA opens 30-day comment on 7,128 planned Southlands homes in Nairobi; some Kibra Lot 5 residents may be displaced

The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has opened public comment on the environmental and social impact reports for the Southlands housing project in Nairobi's Lang'ata constituency, after notices in the Kenya Gazette on 23 October. The project is five lots with 7,128 units in all. Kibra Lot 5, covered by Gazette Notice No. 16886, is 1,386 of them. The reports say some residents could be displaced.

The proponent is the State Department for Housing and Urban Development. The project sits in Mugumo-ini Ward. Lots 1, 3, 4 and 5 have 1,386 units each and Lot 2 has 1,584, which makes 7,128. The Lot 5 notice describes 14 blocks, each a ground floor and eight upper floors. Social housing is one-, two- and three-roomed units; affordable housing is studios and two- and three-bedroom units. The plans add shop stalls, children's play areas and parking.

On displacement, the Lot 5 report says the register of affected people must be completed and verified before anyone is moved, and that the agreed support must be given before clearance. It also asks the proponent to keep talking to affected residents, set up a way to raise complaints, and give priority to vulnerable people: the elderly, children, people with disabilities and women-headed households.

The reports also deal with construction. They propose watering exposed ground to keep down dust and keeping noisy work to daytime hours. Neighbours are to get at least 14 days' notice before work that causes significant vibration.

The comment period is 30 days from 23 October, which runs to about 22 November. Comments can be oral or written. Written comments go to the NEMA Director-General at [email protected] and must carry the project reference number. The reports can be read at NEMA's offices on Popo Road off Mombasa Road, at the Nairobi City County director of environment's office, and on NEMA's website.

The project has been in court. On 11 December 2025 the Environment and Land Court stayed construction of the Southlands project, Lots 1 to 5, on a petition by Senator Okiya Omtatah. He argued that it sits on a road reserve and went ahead without an environmental assessment and proper public participation. Residents had marched to Ardhi House on Ngong Road that month over relocation and compensation, and housing officials agreed to suspend planned evictions until public participation was done. At the time the project was described as 15,960 units in 60 high-rise blocks.

On 29 May 2026 a three-judge bench of the Environment and Land Court quashed NEMA's licence and ordered a full environmental and social impact assessment and fresh approvals before the project could go on. In a replying affidavit reported by the Kenyan news site Citizen Digital on 24 March, Housing Principal Secretary Charles Hinga had said the government met every legal requirement, pointing to household surveys, public meetings and stakeholder interviews.

In a separate relocation in Kibera, more than 10,000 residents of Soweto Zones C and D were reportedly given 13 days in April to leave, with KSh 60,000 in relocation assistance, Fabrizio Floris, a sociologist who has researched Nairobi's informal settlements since 1996, wrote in The Conversation Africa in July. Some residents said the sum did not cover rent deposits, school transfers or the cost of restarting a small business, he wrote.