AG Githu Muigai asks to join case on disputed plot

Justice Anthony Ompwayo (right) presides over a land case between Keiyo Teachers SACCO and the Kenya Prison Services at the site in Kiplombe, Uasin Gishu County yesterday. 
(PHOTO: KEVIN TUNOI/STANDARD)

The controversy surrounding the land recommended for the construction of the Sh28 billion new Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) deepened yesterday, after the Attorney General filed an application to be enjoined in a civil suit filed by Keiyo Teachers SACCO.

The tussle over the 100-acre parcel of land classified as Block 10 D in Eldoret Municipality pits the SACCO against the Kenya Prison Services, where the latter is accused of denying the SACCO access to develop the land they claim to have bought in 2004 from the National Social Security Fund (NSSF).

And yesterday, Attorney General Githu Muigai through a letter to lawyer Joseph Ngumbi dated June 30, asked the court to enjoin him and MTRH.

"There are new developments and we intend to enjoin the MTRH as well as the Ministry of Health. Do kindly bear with us," the letter presented in court by the plaintiff's advocate Joseph Cheptarus reads.

In the letter, the litigation counsel sought an adjournment saying they were not ready to continue with the case.

But Justice Anthony Ombwayo ruled that the two parties will not be enjoined in the case until they make a formal application asking for the same.

However, the plaintiff's advocate said they want to know the interest of the two parties seeking to be enjoined in the case when it has been in court for the past 10 years.

"They are welcomed to be enjoined in the case and any other party can apply formally for the same. What we want is justice for my clients," Cheptarus told journalists.

He said he found the letter yesterday morning in his office as he was preparing to go to court for the case. In his testimony, Keiyo Teachers SACCO Chief Executive Officer Christopher Cheruiyot produced a letter written by suspended Lands Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu asking her Interior counterpart Joseph ole Lenku to intervene and direct the Eldoret Prison to vacate the land.

Lenku has since been replaced by Joseph Nkaissery.

"Records at my ministry clearly indicate the land rightfully belongs to the said SACCO through purchase from NSSF in 2004. The Eldoret Prison has neither laid any formal claim on the land and as matters stand they are illegally occupying it. The Government stands to lose taxpayers money in compensation if the court finds the prison to be occupying the land unlawfully," said Ngilu in a letter dated August 5, 2013.

Rift Valley Kenya National Union of Teachers Chairman Barnabas Lagat, who was among the teachers at the open court, urged the teachers to maintain calmness as they await the determination of the case.

"As a union we have faith in our judicial system and we know that no matter how long it takes, justice will prevail," said Lagat.