[Source: The Standard, by Everlyne Kwamboka]
Failure by the Government to complete compulsory acquisition of land earmarked for the Northern Bypass road reserve has cost the taxpayer millions of shillings.
The Commissioner of Lands is said to have failed to conduct a final survey after compensating original property owners in the 1970s or indicate in the register that a 20-metre stretch of the properties was public land.
The commissioner also failed to recall the mother titles for purposes of indicating the easement and recording in the land register.
The Court of Appeal has now ruled that the current 29 property owners are innocent purchasers who had relied on contents at the land registry records to buy the parcels along the 12-kilometre road.
By earmarking the properties for demolition in 2010, the appellate court said the owners’ rights to property guaranteed by the constitution were threatened with violation.
The Government planned to ease traffic within the city and developed an interest on several properties along the Northern Bypass. The road was to link Ruaka on Limuru Road to Kiambu Road through Runda estate.
Records tabled in court show the width of the road in Runda Mimosa area was to be 60 metres and not 80 metres as claimed by the government when the 29 homes were marked for demolition.
The home owners said they conducted due diligence before purchasing the properties and there was no record at the lands office, showing that part of the properties were occupying the road reserve. The residents argued that the width of the road as per records showed 60 metres and not 80 as claimed by the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (Kura), the Ministry of Roads and the Ministry of Lands.
[Full article: The Standard, by Everlyne Kwamboka]
