Self-help group loses case in battle over 30 acre land

A self-help group has lost a bid to stop Sauti Sacco Society Limited from occupying a property in a 30 acre plot worth over Sh1 billion in Donholm.

Environment and Land Court Judge Antonina Kossy Bor dismissed a suit filed by Alfajiri self-help saying the self-help group failed to prove their case.

The self-help group through their officials had sued Sauti Sacco Society Limited in 2008 seeking orders compelling them to vacate the said land and remove structures erected on it

According to the self-help group which provides care for people who are affected or infected with HIV Aids the said property was awarded to them by Nairobi City Council.

They accused the said sacco of illegally trespassing the suit property and demolishing its perimeter wall.

The self-help group in their suit papers produced minutes of Nairobi City Councils of April, May, and June 2007 showing they were given temporary allocation of plot LR NAIROBI/BLOCK 82/4262.

They further accused the then District commissioners of Makadara and Embakasi of abuse of their powers as they persistently interfered with the ownership of the said property.

However, in response, Makadara District Commissioner denied claims that it interfered with the said Land.

According to the District Commissioner, the Nairobi City Council did not allocate the said suit to the self-help group as the said suit property belong to Makadara District Commissioner before the title was surrendered to the government in 2007.

The said Land was divided into two potions to create Greenspan investment limited and Continental developers who later sold and transferred it to Sauti Sacco limited.

According to the District commissioner, the self-help group was awarded a different property and that City county of Nairobi did not have right to sell or allocate the said suit property.

Sauti Sacco in their response asked the court to dismiss the suit as the self-help group did not disclose any reasonable cause of action.

Justice Bor in dismissing the suit noted that the suit property was not a public land and the City Council could not have allocated it to the self-help group since it was a private land.

“If any one were to lay claim, it would be Continental developers, since they were the initial owners,” ruled the Judge.