By Sam Alfan.
A judge has ordered a subsidiary of a state corporation to join a case in which members of a society are fighting over the ownership of an expansive land in Machakos County against a former Treasury PS.
Environment and Land court directed Lands Limited to join the case in which members of Stony Athi are fighting over the ownership of the land against former PS Charles Mbindyo.
Stony Athi members moved to court seeking to suspend the implementation of the recommendations made by the National Land Commission (NLC) on February 17, 2025, for the revocation of certificate of lease and survey plans in favour of the association.
Justice A Koross further ordered that there shall be no interference with the occupancy of LR number 9917/4 and LR number 9917/8 or shall there be any eviction from the contested land.
The court further prohibited any transfer, sale, charge or registration, pending the hearing and determination of the petition.
The association wants the court to declare that NLC lacked jurisdiction to entertain, hear or determine any claim relating to the parcel of land L.R No. 9917/8 as the same was not part of the determination in Machakos ELC Judicial Review case.
Mbidyo alleges that he purchased the expansive land from Lands Limited, a subsidiary of the Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC), which is fully owned and controlled by the corporation.
The Environment and Land court judge added that before the sale of land identified as LR. No. 9917/4 to the former PS, the land was a public property as it was held by a state organ.
Mbidyo said he purchased the property from Lands Limited in 1989 and that it was transferred to him on July 4, 1989.
He said he had occupied the land peacefully for over 26 years until September 2015, when a group of people invaded the property.
The association through lawyer Philip Nyachoti says NLC had been directed by the court to only interrogate and review the propriety and legality of title No. 9917/4 by hearing Mbindyo and ADC and Lands Ltd only as the parties to the dispute and not any other party.
They also argue that NLC lacked jurisdiction to hear, investigate and determine any complaint or claim with respect to L.R No. 9917/8 since there was no such complaint before it.
“A declaration that the 1st Respondent’s investigations conducted in respect to L.R No. 9917/8 and the determination made on 17th February 2025 was made without jurisdiction, is unconstitutional and therefore irregular, unlawful, null and void and of no legal effect,” lawyer Nyachoti submitted.
The members allege that although Mbindyo had initially purchased the land, ADC reclaimed 1,558 hectares of the land between 1990 and 1991 and issued the former PS with a credit note of Sh. 2.95 million.
Consequently on or about 20 July 1995, the suit property was surveyed and subdivided into L.R No. 9917/8 and L.R No. 9917/9 pursuant to the said reclamation by Mbindyo.
Thereafter, a surrender document in respect of L.R No. 9917/8 was prepared by the Commissioner of Lands to facilitate the surrender of the same back to Mbindyo.
And following the conclusion of the survey exercise and the subdivision of the suit property into L.R No. 9917/8 and L.R No. 9917/9, Mbindyo was allocated all that parcel of land known as L.R No. 9917/9 measuring 2233.31 Ha.
On 23 August 2013, the association registered its interest in acquiring parcel of land known as L.R No. 9917/8 measuring 1558.60 Ha.
NLC on receipt of the association’s request, invoked its mandate to review the grant of all that parcel of land known as L.R No. 9917/8 in order to establish whether the same was available for allocation to the association.
All parties were then summoned to a public hearing in 2017.
However, none of the parties attended save for the association members and a county executive member for Machakos.
Thereafter, the members were allocated the land.
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