Two families forced into mediation after 36-year battle over property

[Courtesy]

Two families battling over a prime plot in Nakuru town have been directed to settle the matter out of court.

Justice Dalmas Ohungo directed that the property dispute dating back to 1985 be solved through mediation.

The children of the late Nakuru businessman Gachoka Kahawa and the family of the late Florence Wambui have been embroiled in the land dispute for more than 36 years.

Justice Ohungo noted that the case has been in court for so long. He said even when the court delivered its verdicts, the applicants challenged the decisions, thereby delaying the case further.

“The parties in the case are directed to settle the matter outside the court so that we can dispense the case,” he ruled.

The two families held their first mediation session last Friday but after disagreements, the mediation was pushed to August.

Nakuru municipality first allocated the 0.09 hectare of land to Wambui and her friend Florence Nduta for the construction of a charcoal store in 1985.

They, however, constructed rental houses and the property is now estimated to be worth more than Sh40 million.

On November 10, 1992, Gachoka's family issued them with an eviction notice claiming the municipal council had revoked the allocation.

Aggrieved by the notice, Nduta and Wambui sued the municipal council. However, documents in court show that the case never proceeded for hearing after the file went missing.

And in 2014, Teresia Wangari and Sammy Mwangi sued Nduta and Wambui for refusing to vacate.

On May 22, 2019, Gachoka won the case after Wambui and Nduta failed to make appearances in court to defend the suit. The judge ordered Wambui and Nduta’s family to vacate within 40 days or face forceful eviction.

But on July 16, 2019, Samuel Ndung’u and Wilson Mwathi, sons of Nduta and Wambui, told the court that the Gachoka family obtained the judgement by deceit and misrepresentation.

The two submitted that the Gachoka family filed the case against a dead person (Nduta). “The respondents filed the case in 2014, 10 years after Nduta's death."

The duo added that they were not aware that the case was proceeding until a day to eviction when Mwathi saw vehicles at the property.

On December 13, 2019, the court declared the eviction order null and void.