Man loses house and land over 39-year Sh800 debt

A man has lost his home and three acres, all worth about Sh1 million, for failing to clear a Sh800 land purchase balance owed to his neighbour for the last 38 years.

Samson Khwatenge bought the three acres from Phillip Silungi in 1979. The two men agreed that the purchase price would be Sh3,600.

According to court records, Mr Khwatenge paid Sh2,800, with a promise that he would pay the remainder later.

Mr Silungi started to demand the balance in 1980.

Khwatenge later went to court claiming that he owned three acres of land bought from Silungi in 1979 through adverse possession.

But High Court judge Samuel Mukunya threw his case out on grounds that he had declined to pay the entire purchase price.

Justice Mukunya noted that although Khwatenge has been living on the contested property located in Ndivisi, Bungoma County, for 28 years, Silungi’s ownership rights were still valid because the sale process was never completed.

Defendant’s consent

“The applicant entered the defendant’s land with the defendant’s consent through sale. He cannot be in adverse possession since in reality, he has not dispossessed the owner of the land since the entry was not illegal,” the judge ruled.

“A claim of adverse possession cannot succeed if the person asserting the claim is in possession with the permission of the owner of, or in (accordance with) provisions of an agreement of sale or lease or otherwise.”

Mukunya was told that after another fight in court over the Sh800 debt, Khwatenge deposited the money in a Webuye court on August 1, 1998, but Silungi refused to collect it.

The buyer claimed he had been in continuous occupation of the land for more than 12 years and that Silungi’s title had been extinguished over time.

“I paid the money in 1998, 19 years after the agreement was made,” testified Khwatenge.

In reply, Silungi admitted that he had sold the land but insisted that he was not paid his dues in full.

He told the court that he first demanded the Sh800 balance in 1980 but Khwatenge had sought his indulgence because he allegedly had some school fees payments to make.

The court heard that out of frustration, Silungi filed a civil claim in 1997, demanding that the accrued debt should be paid.

The judge also slapped the costs of the case on Khwatenge.