Nyanza Golf Club engulfed in court battle – Weekly Citizen

A legal tussle is looming between the county government of Kisumu, Nyanza Golf Club and a resident of the lake city over a planned project to be jointly implemented by the two entities on a reclaimed wetland on the shores of Lake Victoria.
The petitioner Michael Nyanguti has moved to the Lands and Environment Court seeking to stop the implementation of the initiative dubbed Lakefront Development project targeting the hospitality industry in Kisumu.
On Wednesday last week, High Court judge Justice Stephen Kibunjia directed that the application be served for an interparty hearing on a date to be fixed on priority basis.
“Since the court will be on recess for the Easter holidays, the petitioner may consider the vacation rules to be heard by the duty court,’’ Justice Kibunjia directed.
In a suit filed in court on Tuesday the same week, the petitioner accused Kisumu county government and the Nyanza Golf Club which are listed as the 1st and 2nd respondents in the case respectively, of reclaiming the wetland area, at the mouth of river Kisat without a properly convened public participation.

A section of Nyanza Golf Club.

The suit reads in part “the obtaining state of wetland reclamation is untenable in law because a public wetland is being reclaimed without wide stakeholder involvement, including that of the state agencies like the National Environmental Management Agency and the Water Resources Authority.’’
Nyanguti who is chairperson of the Magnam Environmental Network, a CBO formed in the city to promote environment conservation, claimed in the suit papers that the action by the two respondents to reclaim the wetland is unacceptable since an Environmental Impact Assessment has not been carried out.
He adds “no licence has been issued by Nema and the National Construction Authority as required by law for such projects”.
The petitioner in his suit states that the “illegal” reclamation is harmful to the wetland’s ecosystem and detrimental to the fish breeding ground and is likely to expose the lake waters to direct contamination due to destruction of the vegetation that helps to purify the sewage in river Kisat and other metallic municipal runoff waste.
He asserts that the wetland is a source of livelihood and raw materials for making mats and baskets, and for the fisher communities, which if destroyed will lead to destitution among residents.
“The honourable court is enjoined to intervene and enforce the constitution and relevant laws so as to help protect the wetland,” reads part of the petition.
The petition notes that the general public is likely to suffer harm if the respondents are allowed to proceed with the planned development of the lake front by reclaiming the lake’s riparian wetland without following the laid out procedures.
“The 1st respondent has engaged in an administrative action that is not expeditious, efficient, lawful, reasonable and fair to the fisher communities and that the continued reclamation of the wetland will infringe on the city residents’ right to a clean and healthy environment through direct exposure to sewage waste,” he says.
The petitioner is seeking court orders to permanently stop the two respondents from engaging in any activity that may be harmful to the wetland ecosystem or wetlands around Lake Victoria.
He also wants the courts to compel the respondents to vacate the wetland and cease any activity that may be harmful to the wetland ecosystem and issue a restoration order directing them to restore the wetlands to its original status and meet the cost of the suit.