[Source: Business Daily, by Otiato Guguyu]
A transport company, Dakawou, is seeking to block the family of politician Wavinya Ndeti from a Sh89.3 million property set aside for the standard gauge railway.
The company says it had owned the land since 2010 and defended its case before the 2011 task force on irregular land led by the late Prof George Saitoti, only to lose it when National Land Commission (NLC) revoked the title in November 2018.
According to court papers, it was only after the land was selected by the government for acquisition in 2017 that the owner saw the family of Peter Nzuki Ndeti file a 22-year-old claim on the land.
Represented by Wavinya Ndeti’s brother, Raphael Ndeti, the family won a case in the land courts in Machakos but will have to delay their celebration as the matter moves to the Court of Appeal.
“Dakawou Transporters Limited being dissatisfied with the decision of the honourable Justice Angote given in Machakos on February 28, 2020, intends to appeal at the Court of Appeal against the whole of the said decision,” read the court notice.
Dakawou says it bought the land through its sister company Oil City from Athi Paper Mills, which refused to surrender the land.
After a court battle, the company got exclusive rights to the property and went ahead to fence it off, a claim that it thought was reinforced by the finding of the task force.
The Ndetis, however, petitioned the NLC for the property after it was selected for compulsory acquisition, arguing that they had been allocated the land in 1967 for irrigation and quarrying.
According to the politician’s family, the Commissioner of Land fraudulently allocated the plots to Apex Steel Limited in 2011.
NLC ruled that the land had been issued to the Ndetis and that there was a moratorium restricting sale of land by local government and national government.
The ruled that the title held by Onesmus Kimani Ngunjiri and subsequent transfers including Dakawou’s claim should be revoked.
The Land Court ruled that the ownership by the Athi Paper Mills, which sold the land to the current owner was shaky since they lacked a part development plan, and did not provide evidence of the Sh16 million paid on sale of the land to Dakawou.
The court dismissed attempts to block NLC over jurisdiction as well as limited time frame within which the case could be filed.
[Full article: Business Daily, by Otiato Guguyu]
