80-year-old widow wins back Sh850 million land

An 80-year-old woman has successfully wrestled 85.3 acres of land estimated to be worth Sh850 million from a land buying company.

Mary Wairimu Dames won the case against Langata Development Company in the Court of Appeal.

The judges ordered the firm to re-transfer the 85.3 acres of land near Thika–Garissa Road to her.

The widow owned the prime land located east of Thika and known as Mary Dale Farm. It measures 1,062 acres.

She sold part of it in 1989 to the land buying company.

But while the transaction involved 672 acres, she argued in court that during sub-division the company apportioned an extra 85.3 acres.

She discovered the anomaly when she received a bill to settle accrued municipal land rates.

Court of Appeal Judges William Ouko, Patrick Kiage and Agnes Murgor dismissed an appeal by the company against an order by the High Court that had decreed that the land belonged to her.

“We substitute an order that the transfer and registration of the extra 85.3 acres forming a portion of land parcel LR 57550, LR 7540/23 to the company is null and void and that the said 85.3 acres shall be re-transferred to Mary Wairimu Dames,” the judges ruled on September 28.

The judges criticised the company for dishonesty in execution of the sale agreement.

The firm had appealed against the judgment by High Court judge Lucy Gacheru on February 12, 2016, in which she ruled the land belonged to the widow.

Langata Development Company had moved to the court of appeal after it was aggrieved by that decision that ordered that the widow be compensated in line with the then rates.

It had argued that there was no fraud that was proven by the widow and laid blame on her surveyors.