Four-decade land dispute finally comes to an end

In 1975 as Kenya tottered on the brink following the murder of JM Kariuki, amid some unexplained bombings and general unrest among university students, Christopher Nashisako bought a five-acre parcel in Mumias at Sh3,000 per acre.

But as soon as the deal was sealed, the seller, Aggrey Nyapola, filed a suit in the Resident Magistrate's Court at Kakamega (RMCC No 36 of 1975). He alleged that he sold three and not five acres to Nashisako. The suit was dismissed.

The controversy heightened when Nyapola's son, James Amabia Nyapola, instituted an action against his father, Aggrey Nyapola, and Nashisako (No 100 of 1984) before Senior Resident Magistrate EM Githinji.

Amabia claimed ownership of the two acres, saying the land was given him by his father. The suit was also dismissed.

"This suit is clearly a conspiracy between the plaintiff (Amabia ) and the first respondent (Nyapola) to defraud the second defendant (Nashisako) of land but the plaintiff's claim is misconceived," said the magistrate.

In 1987, Nashisako sold the land to Fredrick Namatsi. Namatsi however had difficulty accessing the land. He went to a Kakamega court (RMCC No 576 of 1988) seeking eviction of another of Nyapola's son, Johnson Nehondo, who had settled on the land.

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Nehondo felt aggrieved and filed a case against Nashisako and Namatsi, claiming ownership of the land through adverse possession.

But Namatsi and Nashisako went back to court to stop Nehondo from claiming the piece of land.

On September 30, 2010, appeal court judge Chitembwe Juma ruled that Nehondo failed to demonstrate he was in quiet possession of the land for 12 years to warrant his adverse possession of the land.

Nehondo appealed against Chitembwe's ruling in Kisumu High Court before judges David Maranga, William Ouko and Sankale ole Kantai.

He submitted that since he was born in 1956, he was in quiet possession of the land. He claimed that he put up three houses for his three wives and more than eight children on the disputed parcel.

The judges ruled that a situation where, after the sale of land by the registered owner, his family turns to claim it by adverse possession on account of period of time they have lived on it, is an absurdity.

"We think the observation by Githinji, SRM and Aganyanya respectively that these suits are a conspiracy by family members to renegotiate the sale transaction... they wore different masks each time they appeared on the stage but each time they would be unmasked by the court," they said.

Nehondo's appeal was dismissed with costs on April 23, 2015. The judges termed the delay of the case a "waste of time and money; a curse to the Judiciary".