Court allows property owners to challenge proposed roll

[Photo: Courtesy]

The High Court in Nyeri has allowed an application by a property owners' association to challenge a proposed draft Private Land Roll 2019, published by the County Government.

Yesterday, the Environment and Land court directed the residents to institute a judicial review proceeding against the devolved unit in the matter certified as urgent.

Justice Lucy Waithaka further directed the applicants namely Landlords, letting agents and Property Owners Association to serve and file a notice of motion within 21 days.

In the suit filed by Samuel Karanja Kuria and others, the applicants are accusing the county of embarking on a process of introducing new roll without involving the residents.

They are seeking a temporary injunction to stop the process until the respondent comes clean on the controversial property law and adequate public participation is undertaken before its passing. “The respondent has denied small-scale land owners in outer areas of town to be involved in the process,” Kuria says in his affidavit.

He said valuation of agricultural properties to be rated had been undertaken without ground inspection, which would have made residents know there was imminent introduction of rating in the area.

Many resident, he said, are aggrieved by the law.