A Wall Torn Down and a 273-Acre Rail Plan: Nairobi Megachurch Caught in Kenya Railways Land Reclamation

• A perimeter wall at Bishop Margaret Wanjiru’s Jesus is Alive Ministries (JIAM) on Haile Selassie Avenue, Nairobi, was demolished on March 6, 2024.
• Kenya Railways says the structure stood on public land it is reclaiming.
• Bishop Wanjiru disputes that the land belongs to Kenya Railways.
• The Nairobi Rail Masterplan covers 273 acres of Kenya Railways land.

A prominent Nairobi church has become entangled in the Kenyan government’s drive to reclaim railway land for a major transport scheme. Construction Kenya reported that a perimeter wall at Jesus is Alive Ministries (JIAM), led by Bishop Margaret Wanjiru, was demolished amid Kenya Railways’ land reclamation.

The demolition took place on March 6, 2024 at the church on Haile Selassie Avenue. According to the report, youths escorted by police entered the compound, ordered congregants out, roughed up those who resisted and looted property before tearing down the wall that separated the church from Kenya Railways premises. Kenya Railways said the structure had been built on public land and that it had sent personnel to reclaim government property.

Bishop Wanjiru disputed that claim, saying the lane in question held no Kenya Railways property. She linked the timing of the demolition to a court case that was coming up. JIAM was not alone: Apostle James Maina Ng’ang’a’s Neno Evangelism Centre faced a similar dispute over a one-acre plot at the junction of Uhuru Highway and Haile Selassie Avenue.

The land at stake is part of the Nairobi Rail Masterplan, which covers 273 acres of Kenya Railways property and envisages a transport hub with flyover roads, an integrated railway station and a connection to a bus rapid transit scheme.

Large public infrastructure projects bring the ownership of every plot along the route into sharp focus, and the same holds in Jamaica wherever highways, road improvements and urban renewal schemes are planned. Churches built on land near old railway lines, roads or government reserves should check whether their title is clear or whether any part of their site could be claimed back. Where there is doubt, it is better to find out through a surveyor and a lawyer now than through a bulldozer later. Buyers of land near public corridors should do the same.

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