On Monday, a judgment was reached in a series of combined lawsuits involving disputes over adverse possession claims made by over 300 occupants, with the oldest case dating back to 2011.
Presiding at the Kisumu Law Courts, Justice Samson Okong’o ruled against the 300 individuals, declaring their claims to the land in Njiru within Nairobi’s Embakasi region invalid. The assertions of adverse possession were dismissed as lacking merit.
He declared, “The plaintiffs in this lawsuit have no valid claim over L.R No. 6825/2,” and he dismissed a lawsuit filed in 2014. In an effort to prevent their forceful eviction from the property, Justice Okong’o granted those who were currently occupying L.R No. 6825/2 until December 31, 2023, to vacate and return possession of the property to the estate of G.K. Kirima. If they failed to do so, the estate would have the authority to evict them from the property.
The judge concluded that the settlers were trespassers since they failed to demonstrate that they had settled on the mentioned parcels with the owner’s consent. He ruled, “The plaintiff has proven that the defendants did not obtain his consent before entering his parcels of land and commencing construction on them.” He observed, “The defendants were, in this context, trespassers on the mentioned parcels of land.”
Justice Okong’o also noted that he would have considered awarding damages to the Kirima estate for the unlawful occupation if their legal representative had requested such relief.
Additionally, the court rejected the claims made by Self Help Groups known as Kamatuto and Naridai Muoroto on similar grounds.
However, Justice Okong’o granted the prayers of ten defendants and ordered the administrators of Kirima’s estate to complete the sale of the affected portions within ninety days.
