Former residents of Mombasa’s Buxton Estate have taken their long-running housing dispute back to the Senate, seeking enforcement of recommendations that would give them priority in the allocation of homes in the redeveloped estate.
The petitioners are at the Kilifi County Assembly, where senators are holding a week-long Senate Mashinani sitting aimed at taking parliamentary business closer to the counties. Kilifi is hosting the Senate sittings for the first time under the programme.
At the centre of the dispute is the redevelopment of Buxton Estate in Mvita Constituency and whether former tenants have been adequately protected and offered a realistic path to home ownership.
The group wants senators to intervene to ensure they are allocated houses on affordable terms and given priority in the development, in line with recommendations previously made by the Senate Standing Committee on Roads, Transportation and Housing.
The committee investigated the matter following a petition by former Buxton residents over their eviction and the demolition of the old estate.
In its report tabled in the Senate in November 2023, the committee found that the Buxton redevelopment was being undertaken through a joint venture involving the Mombasa County Government and a private developer, rather than under the National Government’s Affordable Housing Programme.
The committee also noted that 522 tenants had occupied the old estate and were expected to benefit from the redevelopment, but the county negotiated for a smaller share of the new housing units.
Under the arrangement, the county’s share was 184 units.
The Senate committee recommended that those units be prioritized for the former tenants, stating that the Mombasa County Government should “allocate its share of 184 units to the former tenants/petitioners.”
For another 336 former tenants and petitioners, the committee called on the State Department for Housing and the Mombasa County Government to establish a mechanism allowing them to acquire homes through a Tenant Purchase Scheme under the National Housing Fund.
The committee had sought a report on the proposed mechanism within 60 days.
It also raised concerns over affordability, noting that negotiations on a tenant purchase arrangement should have been undertaken before redevelopment of the estate began.
The petitioners now want the Senate to revisit the matter and push for implementation of its recommendations, particularly those touching on allocation of units, affordability and protection of the rights of former tenants.
The matter has previously returned before the Senate. In April 2025, Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir appeared before the Senate Roads, Transportation and Housing Committee over the allocation of houses to the former tenants, with senators questioning the implementation of the earlier recommendations.
For the petitioners, the Senate Mashinani sitting in Kilifi provides another opportunity to press lawmakers for action on recommendations that have remained at the heart of their housing dispute.
Their key demand remains unchanged: priority access to homes in the redeveloped Buxton Estate under terms they can afford.
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