A widow has been ordered to pay seven families Sh11.2 million as compensation for demolishing their houses in Mbaruk area in Nakuru, over a contested parcel of land purchased from the estate of Rosebella Jerono Mudavadi, the stepmother of Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi .
Environment and Land Court Judge Millicent Odeny ruled that the families had proved that their properties were illegally brought down in an inhumane manner on the eve of Christmas Day in 2009.
The exercise was carried out by the late David Kariuki with the help of police officers and an auctioneer, on claims of enforcing an order from a Nakuru court.
And now Kariuki’s widow- Jane Njambi- will have to bear responsibility to compensate the families for eviction and destruction of their properties.
Justice Odeny directed Njambi and the auctioneer- Gillette Auctioneers- to jointly pay the families Sh8.2 million for the value of properties demolished on December 24, 2009 and a further Sh3 million as special damages.
The judge said that where eviction and demolition “are conducted on the wrong parcel of land, parties affected are entitled to compensation for loss occasioned by the act of wrongful eviction.”
Evidence revealed that the families were not given notice to vacate the contested land or an opportunity to remove their belongings.
“The eviction and demolition of the plaintiffs’ houses was actually unlawful, as it was carried out in the wrong plot. It follows that the affected families are entitled to general damages,” said the judge.
The seven families, who are members of Koyumkei Housing Cooperative Society, told the court that they purchased the 2.5-acre parcel from Rosebella Mudavadi in 2004 for Sh750,000. Rosebella died on November 24, 2021, in the United States of America.
Mr James Cheruiyot testified in court that he was the chairman of Koyumkei Housing Co-operative Society since its inception in 1998 and was familiar with the families whose houses were demolished.
He told Justice Odeny that the society bought the land known as Miti Mingi Mbaruk Block 3/788 (Barut) from Rosebella in the year 2002 and paid the full amount of Sh750,000 in 2004.
Cheruiyot said he was called on the fateful day and told that their members’ houses were being demolished.
He told the court that he rushed to the scene and found that it was the OCS Nakuru Police Station who was in charge of demolition, having been issued with a court order in respect of plot No.793 and not their plots.
He said the society was informed by the administrator of Rosebella’s estate- Geoffrey Kegode Mudavadi- that she was involved in a court fight with Kariuki and had won the case to block strangers from trespassing on the contested land.
In defence, Njambi said there was a dispute over the acreage of their parcels with Rosebella.
She said they had a case at the tribunal as Rosebella claimed 2.5 acres from Kariuki, and that she trespassed and allegedly took one acre. She added that the title to Rosebella’s land was cancelled, and the demolition and eviction were conducted on the strength of a court order.
However, Justice Odeny said it was not in dispute that Kariuki was restrained by a court order from interfering with the property and was later jailed for contempt of court.
He later filed an appeal but passed on while the appeal was still pending. “This shows there was some wrongdoing by the late Kariuki in respect of the suit land,” observed Justice Odeny.
The judge argued that the evicted families explained to the police and the auctioneer that the land they were occupying was Plot No.788, but the court order read Plot No.793, and they proceeded with the eviction.
‘I think this is a case where an eviction went wrong by demolishing structures in the wrong parcel of land, or that the 1st defendant (Mr Kariuki) had perceived that the land belonged to him,” said the judge.
According to Justice Odeny, the evicted families produced agreements, allotment letters, and maps and further gave elaborate testimonies of how the destruction and demolitions took place.
