Reprieve for ex-PC Davis Chelogoi as court stops judgment in Sh1.35 billion land case

 

Chelogoi has secured a reprieve after the High Court suspended his criminal proceedings over a disputed Sh1.35 billion Lower Kabete property. [File, Standard]

Former Nairobi Provincial Commissioner Davis Nathan Chelogoi has secured a reprieve after the High Court suspended his criminal proceedings over a disputed Sh1.35 billion Lower Kabete property.

Milimani High Court Judge Alexander Muteti ordered a stay of the proceedings before the trial court until October 15, 2026, when he will deliver a ruling on Chelogoi’s application challenging the case.

The order also stopped the judgment scheduled for October 7 from being delivered pending the determination of the application.

The decision follows an application by Chelogoi, who is challenging criminal proceedings arising from a dispute over ownership of a 7.39-hectare parcel of land in Lower Kabete, Nairobi, valued at approximately Sh1.35 billion.

In orders issued on October 6, Justice Muteti directed that the judgment scheduled for October 7 shall await the Ruling of this Court on the instant Application.

“Owing to the history and urgency of this matter, the court shall deliver a ruling on October 15, 2026. The proceedings before the trial Court in CR.C E1137/2023 are hereby stayed until October 15,” Justice Muteti directed.

The court warned that disobedience or non-compliance with its orders would attract penal consequences.

In the case, Chelogoi is facing criminal charges alongside former Assistant Deputy Director in the Lands Administration Office Andrew Aseri Kirungu over allegations surrounding the registration of the disputed property, identified as LR No. 18485.

The prosecution alleges that between May 2020 and June 2021, the two conspired to defraud businessmen Ashok Rupshi Shah and Hitenkumar Amritlal Raja of the property by allegedly procuring its registration in Chelogoi’s name.

Kirungu faces additional allegations, including abuse of office and both accused persons have denied the charges.

In July 2025, Chief Magistrate Dolphina Alego ruled that the prosecution had established a case requiring the two accused persons to defend themselves.

Chelogoi has maintained that he legally acquired the property through a government land allocation in 1995 and has occupied it for decades.

He argues that the criminal proceedings are being used to undermine his claim to the land.

The dispute pits his title against that of Ashok and Raja, whom the Environment and Land Court declared the lawful owners in a July 28, 2022 judgment arising from earlier litigation involving the property.

Chelogoi later filed a separate land case to assert his ownership claim, triggering further legal battles in the Environment and Land Court, the Court of Appeal and the criminal courts.