Man moves to court demanding his ‘love token’ back

A man has gone to court to force his former lover to return a two-acre piece of land he claimed he gave her as a gift.

According to papers he filed at the High Court, the man - known simply as JS - claims the woman duped him into transferring the land to her. He said he gave her the gift believing that their love would last, only for him to later learn that she was married.

He says he met the woman in December 2000 and that she presented herself as a free woman who was ready to settle down and he was immediately besotted. They later sealed their love by tying the knot in an Anglican Church.

Appearing before Judge Mohamed Noor, the man said he and his wife settled into their new life. The woman later eloped with another man.

JS claimed the man came to their home and his wife left with him. It was then that he realised that he had married a married woman.

The court heard that by that time the woman had transferred the property in question to her two daughters, also included in the case, giving them one acre each.

The woman denied the allegations. In her reply dated January 31 this year, she told the court that she bought the two pieces of land between 1998 and 2002.

She told the court that she paid the man Sh50, 000 for each acre and that he went ahead to sign a consent form with the Lands Control Board to transfer ownership of the plots.

She claimed it was after she purchased the land that the man moved into her house once they got married.

The court heard that the documents, which would have been evidence of the purchase, were burnt in a fire that gutted her house in 2003.

After listening to both sides, the judge decided to stop the woman and her daughters from interfering with the two pieces of land until the case is heard and determined.

He also said the court would only determine the truth when all the parties are called before him to give oral evidence.

"The parties' competing interests can only be addressed during the trial," he said.