Win for squatters in Nyeri as church to carve 600 acres in land battle

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A panoramic view of expansive land where residents of Mathari and Mwenji villages in Nyeri Town constituency have been fighting to get back from the Catholic Church. [Mose Sammy, Standard]

The Catholic Archdiocese of Nyeri trustees will hive off 600 acres from its expansive Hill Farm.

The move is guided by orders in a case in which hundreds of families say their ancestors were dispossessed of land during the Mau Mau war at Mathari.

The court declined an application by the Archdiocese to stay the consent order requiring it to excise the 600 acres to the Mathari squatters. The consent was adopted on June 20, 2018, before Justice Lucy Waithaka.

In an affidavit by Fr James Kihara who is a trustee of the archdiocese, the church sought a review of the order. “The orders were made in the misapprehension that all genuine plaintiffs have settled on and occupied 600 acres on the western side of Nyeri-Ihururu road and Gathanuka area which is not the position on the ground,” Fr Kihara said.

He said one party cannot carry out the subdivision process of the entire land without involving the registered owners. Fr Kihara said it was important that a joint report be undertaken by licensed surveyors to ascertain the actual plot and acreage.

The defendant added that excising another 171.3 acres would allow the plaintiff to encroach on the land which cuts across the Eastern side of the Nyeri–Ihururu road. “This is likely to create other myriads of litigation,” Fr Kihara said.

Our Lady Consolata Cathedral Church in Nyeri [Lydiah Nyawira, Standard]

In the suit filed on June 24, 2013, the squatters said they were residents of Mathari and Mwenji villages and had occupied the land since 1971.

“It was our forefathers who were residing in the areas under dispute before the state of emergency. We used to be labourers on the coffee farms,” the group said. They added that they have a right to own the land. In his Judgment, Justice James Olola of the Environment and Lands Court authorised P.N Gichocho Ngugi, a licensed surveyor, to excise the land.

“I also direct the court executive officer and deputy registrar to sign all the deeds required to affect the transfer of the said parcels,” the judge said.

He also directed the land registrar to dispense with both the production of the original titles while transferring the 600 acres to the Mathari squatters.

The cost of the survey and application, the court ruled, was to be borne by the Catholic Archdiocese. “From the foregoing analysis, it is apparent that for some reason the defendant has failed or neglected to comply with the orders issued on May 31, 2018, to transfer to the plaintiff,” Justice Olola said.

The failure on the defendant, he noted, was aimed at defeating the orders of the court. In dismissing the defendant’s application, Justice Olola said he had found no basis to disturb the judgment.