The family of the late Kanu politician Mark Too has won a Supreme Court battle over ownership of 25,000 acres of land in Eldoret.
Supreme Court Judges have ruled that the more than 3,000 squatters who were claiming the land did not have legitimate expectations to own or be allocated the land in question.
The court decision signed by Chief Justice Martha Koome has permanently barred the squatters from accessing or interfering with the land.
Koome made the decision alongside six other judges including Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu and Justices Mohamed Ibrahim, Smokin Wanjala, Njoki Ndungu, Isaac Lenaola and William Ouko.
"The 1st respondent herein, Sirikwa Squatters Group, its agents, members, servants, employees and/or representatives are hereby permanently restrained from entering, taking possession of, and in any other manner interfering with Fanikiwa’s (the 1st appellant) quiet possession of the suit properties," the judgment reads in part.
The court ruled that members of the Sirikwa squatters group were not squatters on the prime land located near the Eldoret International Airport.
The squatters had won long-running cases at the lower courts including at the Court of Appeal but Mark Too's family members moved to the Supreme Court.
The court ruled that Too's family was not given a fair hearing by the lower courts.
Too's widows Mary and Sophie filed the Appeal at the Supreme Court and will now take full charge of the prime land.
Mark Too was a powerful politician during the Kanu regime and the squatters had claimed they were allocated the land by former President the late Daniel Arap Moi.
The dispute
The dispute dates back to 2012 when Sirikwa Squatters Group sued the late Too for illegally taking over their land.
In 2017, High Court Judge Anthony Ombwayo ruled in their favor and cancelled Too’s titles ordering the squatters be given the land.
The Judge agreed with the squatters that the property belonged to their forefathers before they were kicked out. Aggrieved, the Too family under Fanikiwa Limited appealed but the Court of Appeal affirmed the High Court's decision.
The appellate court in its findings said the late President Daniel Arap Moi's ally was “simply the prime mover in the scheme to swindle Sirikwa of the surrendered land and cannot be described by any stretch of the imagination as an innocent purchaser”
“Having found that Too was part and parcel of the fraudulent allocation and transfer, to himself and Fanikiwa, of the parcels of land that were expressly surrendered for settlement of the Sirikwa squatters, we find no basis or justification for the award of the acres to Too”
But Ngatia in his submissions before the Supreme Court said there was no evidence that he transferred it to himself, instead he bought it.
