The Court of Appeal ruled on Friday, November 8, that the acquisition of over 100 residential houses in Nairobi’s Woodley/Joseph Kang’ethe Estate by private developers was fraudulent, illegal, and thus void.
The estate, covering prime properties valued at approximately Ksh1 billion, is now ordered to revert to government ownership.
In a unanimous decision by Justices Francis Tuiyott, Jessie Lesiit, and Grace Ngenye-Macharia, the court upheld a previous ruling by Justice Okong’o of the Environment and Land Court (ELC Case No. 2054 of 2007).
This ruling followed multiple recovery suits initiated by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) against developers who allegedly grabbed properties belonging to Nairobi City County Government.
The appeal was filed by Paul Moses Ng’ethe, who contested the lower court’s decision, but his appeal was dismissed due to lack of merit.
The original suits date back to October 2006 when the defunct Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC), now EACC, sought to recover the properties.
Justice Okong’o’s judgment had declared Ng’ethe’s title to the property invalid and ordered the Registrar of Lands to erase all fraudulent entries in the Nairobi Land Registry. A permanent injunction was issued, preventing Ng’ethe and his agents from dealing with the property, aside from surrendering it to the government.
The Court of Appeal’s decision now allows EACC to enforce the ELC ruling, requiring current occupants, including Ng’ethe and any tenants or agents, to vacate the premises for repossession by the government.
Ng’ethe was also ordered to pay the appeal costs to EACC. This decision has set a precedent for 52 other similar suits involving contested properties in Nairobi County, which had awaited the appellate ruling.
