The nearly ten-year-old dispute over who owns multibillion-dollar land in Nairobi County’s Njiru has been resolved in favor of Teresia Wairimu and Anne Kirima, the late billionaire Gerishon Kirima’s widows.
Judge Samson Odhiambo Okong’o of the Kisumu Environment and Lands Court granted a deadline of December 31, 2023, to the 300 applicants who had previously claimed the land that had been home to Njiru Abbatoir. The verdict was made on Monday.
John Otieno Obade and 299 other parties claimed, in a September 2014 lawsuit, that they were the true proprietors of the estimated 80-acre tract and that they obtained it through adverse possession.
Having land through long-term unauthorized use is known as adverse possession, and it frequently results in the acquisition of legal ownership rights.
However, Okong’o came to the conclusion that the organization was unable to claim possession of the land.
The two widows were named respondents in the lawsuit.
Additionally, the complainants had asked the court to grant them permission to split the plot among themselves.
They contended in their filings that they had made significant improvements to the land and had ‘uninterrupted, exclusive and continuous occupation’ for almost 14 years.
The plaintiffs contended that they were not aware of the land’s true owner until September 17, 2014, when they received a copy of the ownership documents. As such, they contended that they were entitled to alternate homes and settlement and could not be forced to leave.
The vast 500-acre tract of land is where the Kirima family reportedly made the most of their money.
The abattoir used to slaughter hundreds of calves every day in its prime, but protracted legal disputes and family feuds nearly put an end to the enterprise.
Two other parties that maintained that the piece was public land, Kamatuto Self Help Group and Naridai Muoroto Self Help Group, lost their legal battles as well.
The two self-help groups were also ordered by Judge Okong’o to leave the property by the end of the year.