Kenyan woman battles for Sh30m land taken while in US

NAIROBI: A Kenyan residing in the US has accused a private developer of grabbing her piece of land valued at Sh30 million in Tassia, Embakasi.

Jane Waigure has told Justice Pauline Nyamweya that she bought the piece of land from Falcon Properties Ltd in 2010 and a title was issued to her.

But Alex Wainaina also says he bought the land from Ideal Auctioneers who were then acting as agents for the defunct City Council after the initial owner failed to pay land rates.

There are multiple cases over the same piece of land and currently, the case lies before the Court of Appeal, though there are two others before the Judicial Review and Civil Divisions of the High Court.

In the case before High Court, Ms Waigure through Johnson Mwangi, whom she had given the power of attorney to represent her, told Nyamweya that she bought the land and a title was issued to her. "I bought the land in 2010 at Sh10 million and have a valid title deed. I have also been paying rates to the county since I bought the land," the court heard.

However, in 2013, Wainaina built semi-permanent structures on the quarter piece of land and leased it to several people.

The case has been in the corridors of justice for the last three years. Last September,  Nyamweya ruled that Wainaina should vacate the land as he had not adduced any title before the court.

The judge noted that the validity of Waigure's title had not been challenged in separate cases filed by Wainaina, who insisted that he bought the land in a public auction in 2007.

He told the court that it was then that Falcon came up and claimed ownership of the land, sparking a dispute in the High Court's judicial Review Division and the Civil Division; though the cases had not ended. In the civil division, Wainaina sued Falcon, claiming he owned the land. He was challenging the validity of the title held by the company, saying it was invalid as the land changed ownership when it was auctioned.

In the judicial Review Division, Falcon was challenging the auction and there were orders declaring the same as illegal. In these two cases, Waigure was not a party.

On September 18, 2014, Nyamweya ordered that Wainaina's structures be demolished with the help of Embakasi OCPD.

However, Wainaina moved to the Appellate Court, saying Nyamweya never considered his claim that he had bought the land. He argued that the eviction was misplaced.

In May 8, a three judge bench composed of Jamila Mohamed, Roselyn Nambuye and Phillip Waki set aside Nyamweya's orders by ruling that it was too early to issue the orders considering there are other cases touching on the same property and have not been determined.