By Anchor Writer
A proposed industrial development in the Kyumbi–Itimboni area of Machakos County has come under scrutiny, with residents demanding full disclosure of approvals, plans and public participation documents before the project proceeds.
The demand has been made through lawyers representing the Junction Residents Association, whose membership comprises property owners and occupiers in Kyumbi, including Maanzoni Ranch, Kyumbi Town and surrounding areas.
In a letter dated August 10, 2026, A.N. Ndambiri & Co. Advocates has given Yankan Company Ltd four days to produce a raft of documents relating to the proposed development of a batching plant on Plot No. 1/48 in Kyumbi.
But as the documentation is awaited, the plant proponents have invited residents for a public participation meeting to attempt to legitimise their halfway constructed factory in the middle of residences.
The residents’ demand raises questions about how the project has been processed and whether people living around the proposed industrial site have been adequately informed and involved.
The lawyers say the company has already made progress in obtaining development permissions and approvals from several authorities, including the County Executive Committee Member responsible for the relevant docket in the Machakos County Government and the Ministry of Energy, Lands, Housing and Urban Development.
But the residents want to see the paperwork behind those approvals.
Among the documents demanded are the planning brief or report prepared by a registered and licensed physical planner, notices published in the local media and Kenya Gazette concerning the proposed development, and minutes of meetings held with members of the public, including the residents’ association.
The lawyers are also demanding details of the application for development permission submitted to the Machakos County Government, as well as documentation relating to the proposed change of user of Plot No. 1/48 from residential to industrial.
The residents want copies of submission certificates for the batching plant, evidence of payment of revised ground rent and rates following the proposed change of user, the title issued after approval of the change of user and the new deed plan or mutation.
They are also seeking the architectural, structural, civil, electrical, mechanical and plumbing drawings and specifications submitted to the county authorities.
The residents’ lawyers have specifically asked for copies of notices published in the media and the Kenya Gazette informing the public of the proposed batching plant.
The four-day deadline is significant.
The lawyers have warned that failure to provide the documents within four days would lead their clients to conclude that the documents do not exist or were never prepared and shared.
That conclusion, they say, would guide the residents in deciding their next course of action over the proposed development.
The controversy comes against the backdrop of growing industrial activity along the Mombasa Road corridor, including the wider Itimboni area, where cement-related developments have attracted public interest over land use, environmental concerns and the rights of neighbouring communities.
For the moment, however, the document at the centre of the latest dispute describes the project specifically as a “Batching Plant” rather than a cement manufacturing plant.
That distinction could become important as residents seek to establish exactly what is being constructed on Plot No. 1/48, its intended operations and the approvals obtained for it.
The residents’ action also puts public participation at the centre of the emerging dispute.
Their lawyers are not merely asking whether approvals were obtained. They want evidence of the notices issued, meetings held and views collected from members of the public.
For a rapidly urbanising corridor such as Kyumbi and Itimboni, where residential, commercial and industrial developments increasingly sit close to one another, the question is whether development is being undertaken transparently and in accordance with the planning process.
The Anchor understands that the residents are now awaiting the company’s response to the demand.
This is a developing showdown in Itimboni after residents opened a fight with Lombodat Cement Company which is attempting to establish a cement factory against the will of residents.
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