• The two cases sought to have the company's land lease halted until a part of it is awarded to them.
• They claimed the land was forcibly taken from their forefathers.
The Environment and Lands Court in Murang’a has dismissed two suits filed against the renewal of Del Monte’s land lease.
Justice Grace Kemei has ruled that the two petitions filed by Kandara Residents Association and Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry Murang’a branch did not prove any rights to the land.
KNCCI had told the court that in 1895, the then colonial government took over their ancestral land and relocated those who lived there at the time.
As a result, all their generations after colonialism have been deprived of the land.
They said the land did not revert back to their fathers after Independence due to ignorance and poverty.
The chamber pleaded with the court to redeem its members’ rights and atone the historical injustice by ordering that 1,500 acres be excised from the land occupied by Del Monte and allotted to them.
The chamber filed the suit in November 2018, allegedly on behalf of its 2,000 members whose forefathers, descendants and ancestors lived on the land.
But the judge said the chamber was unable to show that it had the mandate to sue on behalf of the national outfit nor that it is mandated by the constitution of the chamber to sue as a branch.
“It is trite law that the chamber is an unincorporated body and does not have the legal capacity to sue or be sued and would ordinarily sue through registered officials,” Kemei ruled.
She said there was no evidence that the alleged 2,000 members of the branch are guarantors of the national outfit nor that the second and third plaintiffs, Peter Kiguta Kamau and Joan Njeru Wanjiku , are either members or registered officials.
Kandara Residents Association wanted the court to compel the company to cede 6,500 acres it claimed were violently seized by colonialists from their forefathers and later owned by the company.
Through the association chairman, Phillip Kamau, the residents said the land would be used to set up greenhouses, hospitals, a cemetery and other social amenities that the area lacks.
But Kemei said the association had failed to prove the transfer of any rights in the plaintiff’s land to them.
“Having found that the applicant has failed to prove any rights or interest in the suit properties, the plaintiff’s claim to a portion of the land is therefore unsupported. There are therefore no damages that the plaintiffs are entitled to from the defendants,” she said.