Trouble is brewing after a Nairobi County Member of the County Assembly (MCA) were linked to the barefaced grabbing of a parcel of land in Maringo Estate, Nairobi County.

The city MCA is said to have colluded with a businessman of Somali origin to forcefully take over the said land that was being used as parking by the popular Hodi Hodi Bar and Grill.

Swala Nyeti has established that the alleged grabber going by the name “Abdul” had already erected metallic rental stalls on the said parcel that is situated in Makadara Constituency.

The blatant building of the rental stalls on the disputed land prompted Deputy County Commissioner David Wanyonyi to issue a 24-hour demolition notice dated January 11, 2023.

When the order was ignored, the DCC convened a meeting with area MCA Patrick Macharia and the private developer as he spearheaded the demolition of the structures last Friday.

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However, the Hodi Hodi Bar and Grill owned by Zablon Kibathi was razed on Saturday in what is perceived as retaliation for the demolition even as police are probing the incident.

The Hodi Hodi proprietor was at the forefront in opposing the developments on the space that was normally used by his bar revelers to park their vehicles before it was grabbed.


Kibathi has termed as suspect the fierce inferno that started on the thatched roof of his establishment which has been in the area for decades and is popular with the older folk.

Swala Nyeti has learnt that Kibathi is pursuing the matter with relevant authorities as he counts losses worth millions of shillings due to the inferno at Maringo shopping centre.


This comes a week after the Maringo Estate Residents Tenants Association (MERTA) also wrote a letter to Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja lamenting over the same structures.

Those familiar with the incident, who spoke to our reporter, say the grabbing of the parcel has the backing of some strong and politically-connected persons, including at City Hall, who are unrelenting.


This comes amid a surge in cases of empty parcels of land in the city being grabbed by crooked private developers who then rush to illegally erect structures on them unabated.