Members of the Kogony community on Wednesday marched peacefully to the Kisumu International Airport to present a three-point petition to the facility’s management, fresh off a landmark legal victory against the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA).

The community, which originally surrendered 880 acres of ancestral land for the construction and expansion of the international airport, moved to court after the state aviation authority failed to clear the balance of their agreed compensation package, a delay that has spanned several years.

Led by their chairperson, Paul Akeyo, the residents bypassed aggressive demonstrations, opting instead to hand over a formal memorandum outlining their core demands.

The Kogony community’s petition centers on three key resolutions: immediate disbursement of the long-overdue financial compensation balance for their 880-acre land parcel, direct employment and affirmative action job opportunities for local youth within the airport’s operations and the structural expansion of the airport’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs to directly benefit the surrounding host neighborhoods.

The delegation was received by the Airport’s Managing Director, Felix Waga, who commended the community for choosing a peaceful, diplomatic approach to air their grievances rather than disrupting sensitive aviation operations.

Waga assured the residents that their petition would be escalated directly to the KAA Chief Executive Officer in Nairobi for immediate action. He promised the Kogony residents that a comprehensive, final feedback meeting would be convened within two weeks to chart the way forward.