Court orders eviction of Taita-Taveta MCA from ranch

Closeup wooden judges' gavel on wooden table with legal books. [COURTESY]

A Taita Taveta ward rep has lost his home after a court ordered his eviction.

The Environment and Land Court in Mombasa ordered Wumingu-Kishushe Member of County Assembly Newton Kifuso out of the land that belongs to Kishushe Ranching Cooperative Society in Taita.

The ranch, through its Lawyer Moses Mwakisha, went to court to seek orders to evict the legislator, claiming he has been occupying it for years without its authority.

According to the court papers, the MCA illegally encroached and annexed a portion of the land to construct a residential home. The land measures about 60,000 acres.

The documents say on December 28, 2001, 18,000 acres of the land were declared as an adjudication section for purposes of settlement of residents of Kishushe who had lived there for more than 100 years.

Adjudication is the process through which land belonging to the government or has not been allocated is transferred to individuals.

On August 24, 2015, the Lands Registrar gave the title deed for the land measuring 60,000 acres to the ranching society.

The MCA claimed to have bought the land from a resident.  In a ruling delivered on Tuesday last week, Justice CK Yano ordered the MCA to leave the land in 60 days. 

Kifuso has already filed a notice to appeal against the ruling.