Owners in disputed 25,000-acre land to join Supreme Court case

Land owners living in the disputed 25,000 acre farm in Kapseret, Uasin Gishu, want to be enjoined in a Supreme Court case pitting Sirikwa Squatters and late former MP Mark Too's Fanikiwa Farm.

Speaking to the media after a meeting at Ngara Falls, the land owners whose title revocation by the High Court was upheld by the Appeals Court, vowed not to move from their parcels of land.

They insisted that they bought the land from East African Tanning and Extraction Company (EATEC), which previously majored in planting wattle trees. However, the courts have ruled that the land was fraudulently taken away from the squatters and sold by the late Mark Too.

On Friday, advocate Zephaniah Yego, for the land owners, maintained that his clients were innocent purchasers who had been living in "innocence", not knowing that the case that had been going on in court for decades would affect them.

Mr Yego said that with the case now resting with the Supreme Court, the land owners would be seeking to be included. "We are hoping to file an application at the Supreme Court to allow them participate in the Supreme Court petition," he said.

Mr Joel Madahana, who owns part of the disputed land, said residents were innocent purchasers who should not be blamed or left homeless.

"We are distressed with the recent judgment that affected us despite not being part of the court case. We are shocked even more to hear that squatters were dwelling on this land yet we did not find them here," said Madahana.

Noah Magut, another land owner, said they had settled on the disputed land for about 22 years.

"We bought this land through a society called Kaptien and have settled here since then. To demand that we leave the property we have invested in and called home for decades is unfair," said Magut.

Magut said that over the years, the land owners have lived as a community and have achieved development projects including schools, roads, hospitals and even churches.

Rosemary Bargelei, another resident, said it was painful to see all their hard work go to waste.

Benjamin Rono, the Sirikwa Group's chairperson, on the other hand, said their lawyers were ready to continue fighting for the rights of the squatters. He expressed hope that the Supreme Court, just like the two lower courts, would rule in their favour.

The more than 1,000 squatters have been embroiled in a land ownership tussle with the late Too's family since 2007.

In 2017, the Lands Court in Eldoret ruled in the squatters' favour. The court had agreed with the squatters -- previously farm hands and labourers at the farm working for a British multinational -- that the property belonged to their forefathers before they were kicked out to give way for a plantation.

High Court judge Anthony Ombwayo had ruled that they be allocated the land.

In May, this year, Justice Elijah Obaga ordered surveyors to set up beacons and map out public utilities from the disputed land.

In the recent Appeal Court judgment, Justices Patrick Kiage, Kathurima M'inoti and Mumbi Ngugi, described the acquisition of the land as 'misrepresentation and fraudulent'.