Man says rogue court officials to blame for the loss of his six acres

George Wachira and family members during the burial of his wife, Mama Hellen Wamuyu in Maragima village on December 28, 2022. [Purity Mwangi, Standard] A man is demanding justice after his six-acre land was auctioned in 1985 for failing to pay Sh102,825 compensation to a victim of assault. His predicament stems from a case that was filed against him after a brawl with Joe Ruthuthi in a bar on March 13, 1982. George Wachira from Kiamariga in Nyeri is pleading with the government to intervene in his land case that has dragged on for 40 years. During the burial of his wife on Wednesday at Maragima where a well-wisher donated land to him, Wachira said he has been living by the Sagana State Lodge-Karatina Road for the last 15 years after he was evicted from his land. In the assault case heard before Nyeri resident magistrate, Ruthuthi said Wachira fractured his right leg after hitting him with a stone. Wachira was sentenced to 20 months in prison and three strokes of the cane. Not satisfied with the ruling, Ruthuthi went back to court and filed a civil suit seeking to recover the costs incurred on medication as a result of the injuries, salary forfeited for the five months while recuperating and other damages. He won the case and on January 26, 1985, the court ordered Wachira to pay Sh102,825 as damages. In his application filed on February 19, 1997, Ruthuthi asked the court to order the sale of the land and the proceeds handed out to him. Wachira was unable to pay and the amount accrued interest, rising 12 years later to Sh240,439. Ruthuthi went back to court seeking the sale of land to get his awarded damages. The land was auctioned and sold to the highest bidder, in this case, Ruthuthi the complainant. Wachira appealed to the court asking for the reversal of the sale of his land. The appeal has never been heard to date. Wachira now blames it on corruption in the Judiciary, arguing that the procedure used to sell his land was not legal. On December 28, 2022, Wachira and his family, together with a few friends, converged at Maragima village in Kieni constituency for the burial of his wife, Hellen Wamuyu Wachira. The burial was held a few kilometres from Tagwa forest on a plot donated by a wellwisher after his story was highlighted by The Standard. "It is so painful that I have to bury my wife in this lonely place yet I have the ancestral land that I was illegally dispossessed of," he said. He urged the government to consider his plea "and terminate his case and tame the corrupt deal" that made him lose his land. "My wife has died due to high blood pressure. This is a complication she developed immediately after we were evicted from our land. I have been living by the roadside due to corruption in our judicial systems," said Wachira. He believes his resilience will lead to justice. He wants a tribunal set up to look at the facts that led to his eviction.

Man says rogue court officials to blame for the loss of his six acres

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Man says rogue court officials to blame for the loss of his six acres

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