A businesswoman is counting losses after hired goons invaded her five-acre land and destroyed property despite a court order granting her possession of the land.
The Court of Appeal had granted Alice Wangui Mwaniki, a widow possession of the land in Ruiru, Kiambu County after which she fenced it only for the goons to descend on it and bring down the perimeter wall estimated at Sh12 million.
"I have suffered financially and mentally for over 12 years as a dispute over the land was in court but after the Court of Appeal issued the decree giving me possession, I thought everything was settled only for the goons to invade the property and attempt to take it," she said.
Disputes over the land started in 2009 when Ms Mwaniki and another widow Agnes Wambui Kiritu said they paid Sh90 million to Milele Ventures Ltd to purchase 60 acres of land situated at Ruiru, Kiambu County.
However, the company failed to transfer the land to the two women and in 2010, they moved to the Environment and Land Court (ELC). In 2014, the court found that they did not pay the entire purchase price but were entitled to portions commensurate with the amounts they paid.
The court ruled that since Ms Mwaniki had only paid Sh8.5 million, she was entitled to five acres while Ms Kiritu was granted possession of 35 acres after the court confirmed that she paid Sh59 million.
The dispute moved to the Court of Appeal where then Appellate Judges Kihara Kariuki, Wanjiru Karanja and Festus Azangalala upheld the ELC court decision and issued a decree that the two women be given their land.
"Mwaniki is entitled to five acres while Kiritu is entitled to 35 acres which should be curved out of the original land owned by Milele Ventures Ltd," ruled the Court of Appeal.
After the decision, the two women took possession of the 40-acre portion of the land and through a series of correspondence agreed that Ms Mwaniki will take her five-acre portion at one corner and leave the remainder for Ms Kiritu.
However, the two widows disagreed over which part Ms Mwaniki should take and in a letter to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in November 2022, she claimed that Ms Kiritu had gone behind her back and had the entire 40 acres registered in her name. "She acquired consent to register the entire land in her name without disclosing that I had put a perimeter wall around my five acres," said Mwaniki.
Frustrated by attempts to deny her possession of the five acres, Ms Mwaniki reported the matter to the Commission of Administration of Justice who wrote to the Ministry of Lands to rectify the records and register her land.
They also involved the land fraud unit from the DCI, who after reviewing the Court of Appeal judgement directed that the two women take possession of their portions. While Ms Mwaniki was still waiting for State agencies to issue her with her title, goons raided her portion and brought down the perimeter wall.
