Court halts eviction of 421 families from disputed land

The Court of Appeal has temporarily blocked eviction of 421 families from a 63-acre land in Pipeline Estate on the outskirts of Nakuru City.

On Wednesday, Justices Mohamed Warsame, Gatembu Kairu and Mwaniki Gachoka granted a stay in execution of a judgment by Lands Court Judge Anthony Ombwayo, on March 14, 2024.

The judges ordered for a status quo to be maintained and the families who are shareholders of Nakuru Workers Housing Cooperative Society, to continue occupying the parcels until their appeal is heard and determined.

“The appellants (families) should file their substantive Appeal within 30 days before November 16, failure to which the stay orders will be vacated,” ruled the three-judge bench.

The judges further ordered the appeal to be heard on a priority basis. The ruling followed an application for stay by the families. They submitted that Judge Ombwayo made an error when he allegedly failed to consider their proof of ownership of the disputed land.

“The judge was wrong when he failed to consider that the members proved they had completed payment  for the land as per the sale agreement dated March 6, 1990,” they submitted.

The families added that the judge failed to consider proof that it was Thuo Commercial Agency Limited, who the family entered into a sale agreement with, that breached the contract.

The families, who have been occupying the land that was subdivided into plots, from 1992 were ordered to vacate the land within 90 days.

Ombwayo in his verdict ruled that the families breached the sale agreement they entered with the commercial agency. The agreement was for the families through the society, to pay Sh2,646,000 to purchase the land, by June 8, 1990.

Ombwayo, however, ruled that evidence in court showed the society only paid Sh2,046,000 to the agency and defaulted on the payment of Sh600,000.