CJ Koome to appoint bench to hear appeal on sale of Lipton, James Finlay

James Finlays Tea Estate in Kericho County. [Julius Chepkwony, Standard]

Chief Justice Martha Koome has said she will constitute a three-judge bench to hear and determine an appeal seeking to stop the sale of Lipton and James Finlay Tea companies to a foreign investor.

A letter from the Court of Appeal stated that the appeal dated June 12, 2024, seeking to halt the sale of the tea estates to Browns PLC has been certified as urgent.

The applicants, David Ngasura and 19 others, represented by lawyer Joel Bosek, claim that the tea firms are hastily disposing of several parcels of land without following due process.

They claim this move aims to defeat the Kipsigis Community's right to property.

In his affidavit, Bosek asserts that the multinational tea firms' actions will deny the Kenyan government revenue through stamp duty and capital gains tax payments.

He further says, during his visit to Kenya, King Charles III's acknowledged the atrocities committed against African communities, including the Kipsigis.

Bosek claims that the British multinationals are attempting to evade responsibility by engaging in legally questionable land transactions.

"The intended exit by Lipton and James Finlay, and their purported transfer of interests to Brown of Sri Lanka, will deny the Kipsigis and Talai communities their rights to mense profits, land preservation, and land rate collections," he says. Bosek.

"The companies should not be allowed to introduce new entities who are not party to the ongoing proceedings in the Environment and Land Court," he claims

The Kenya Tea Growers Association, the National Land Commission, the Director of Survey, the County Governments of Kericho and Bomet, and the Borowo and Kipsigis Clans Self-Help Group are listed as the first to sixth respondents.

The applicants moved to the Court of Appeal following dissatisfaction with the judgment of Justice Oscar Angote in Nairobi ELC Case No. 3 of 2020, delivered on April 20, 2023.

Bosek alleges that the British multinationals lack valid titles for most tea estates, as the original titles have expired.

He argues that in 1905, approximately 90,000 acres of land were grabbed, subdivided, and allocated to 18 settlers based on race.

In 1919, a further 25,000 acres were appropriated by the British government, resulting in the massive eviction of the Kipsigis community in the East of Kericho Township. Additional evictions in 1951 saw another 10,000 acres taken from the Kimulot area.

"Further acquisitions through forceful means have brought the total land under multinational tea companies to over 220,000 acres, without consultation or compensation to the Kipsigis and Talai communities," Bosek says.

Justice Angote's judgment quashed the National Land Commission's recommendations set out in a gazette notice dated March 1, 2019.

"The recommendations therein included resurveying the land held by tea estates to identify any surplus land for community use, withholding lease renewals, until agreements were reached with the respective county governments, and converting 999-year leases to the constitutional requirement of 99 years," the judge ruled.

Justice Angote ruled that the gazette notice violated the principle of natural justice, as the multinational tea firms were not notified of the claims nor allowed to be heard.