Trader ordered to keep off Sh600m Karen land

The High Court has ordered a businesswoman to stop any further interference with a property worth Sh600 million in Karen, Nairobi.

The five-acre piece of land on Ushuriki road has been the subject of ownership dispute between Nairobi lawyer Guy Spencer Elms and the businesswoman, Agnes Mugure.

High Court judge Mary Gitumbi issued the orders against Ms Mugure on Friday, following an application by Mr Spencer, who claims to have taken charge of the property following the death of the real owner Roger Bryan Robson.

Spencer said the land and its title documents were passed to him by Robson in a will dated March 24, 1997. Robson, who died on August 8, 2012, had reportedly asked that the property be sold and the proceeds be used to support needy children and in environmental conservation. However, Ms Mugure claims to have bought the property from Robson.

Spencer filed the suit in Nairobi on Wednesday last week, urging the court to permanently stop Mugure from trespassing, accessing, alienating, transferring and interfering with the land.

He wants her to be permanently restrained from interfering with possession and occupation of the property. He also wants Mugure stopped from representing herself as the owner and compelled to demolish the wall and other structures in the land. Spencer also wants a declaration that he is the rightful owner of the land.

Forceful eviction

Last week, Spencer, through his lawyer Philip Nyachoti, applied for a temporary injunction restraining Mugure from dealing with the land in any way pending the hearing and determination of that application and the main suit.

He claims that on April 25, 2013, he was informed by his guards and caretakers that private security guards and two armed police officers had accessed the land, forcefully ejected them and demolished some structures and buildings.

The orders will be in force for 14 days. The court ordered that the application be heard on February 19, 2015, when Mugure would present her case.