Mombasa County wins case for 600-acre land worth Sh3.8 billion

The county government of Mombasa has won a battle to reclaim 600-acres of land valued at Sh3.8 billion which had been irregularly allocated to two businessmen.

Justice Eric Ogola on Friday ruled that the two businessmen Salim Abeid Said and Thuwena Ahmed Muhamad failed to prove their claim to the land leaving the court convinced that their allotment letters were fraudulently obtained.

“They did not file anything to support their claim to the land or a counter-affidavit to oppose the application by the county government. The facts as presented by the county are uncontradicted and unchallenged and which the court accepts as the truth,” ruled Ogola.

Justice Ogola declared the title held by the two traders as illegal and that any other claim they had to the disputed land was of no legal effect.

The county government had claimed that they entered into a 99-year lease with the National Government for the 600-acre land from 2010 and has been in possession of the title ever since.

According to Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho, the land was designated for industrial purposes including a truck marshalling park for the county’s vehicles. The land was valued at Sh60 million per acre which translated to Sh3.6 billion for the 600 acres.

The county stated that in 2017, they learned that Salim and Muhamad were laying claim to the land alleging that they had been allocated by the lands’ registrar in 1998 before the county government entered into the lease agreement with the national government.