• Court restrains NLC and the Attorney General from entering Del Monte’s land or interfering with it.
• Del Monte says if it loses the said excess land, 7,000 staff will stand to lose.
Image: FILE
The High Court on Wednesday declined to suspend implementation of a directive that excess land within Del Monte Farm be surrendered to Kandara residents for resettlement.
Justice James Makau restrained the National Land Commission and the Attorney General from entering Del Monte’s parcels of land or interfering with it.
The judge said the issues of the gazette notice be canvassed before Justice Weldon Korir.
The Gazette notice dated February 18 and published on March 1 allowed a resurvey to be undertaken by the Director of Survey and the county governments of Murang'a and Kiambu to establish if there is any variance between land leased and that the company occupies.
It further ordered Del Monte to surrender all public utilities within the land to national and county government agencies, whether the leases have expired or not.
In the case, Del Monte Kenya Ltd sued the NLC and the Attorney General. Kandara Residence Association, Cannaries Environ Residence Association, Murang’a and Kiambu county governments have been listed as interested parties.
Del Monte, through Lawyer Njoroge Rigeru, said the impugned determination of NLC contains no more than recommendations, which are subject to government agencies, "but Kandara and Cannaries are acting as if the said determination granted them rights over land registered in Del Monte’s name".
“If we were to lose the parcels of land, we would be forced to close our business to our detriment and to the detriment of many others who depend on the company including its 7,000 employees and their dependents,” Rigeru said in suit papers.
But Murang'a residents, through lawyer Kirira Kimara, claim that Del Monte stands to suffer no prejudice as the properties in question are public land.