Ex-MP Basil Criticos suffers setback in 1,000 acres land tussle
Former Taveta MP Basil Criticos.
Former Taveta MP Basil Criticos has suffered a setback after the Environment and Lands Court in Mombasa County, stopped hearing his case over ownership of more than 410 hectares (about 1.013 acres) of land.
Justice Lucas Naikuni issued an order stopping proceedings in the case to give priority to the hearing of a related case pending in court.
"The parties are directed to approach this court for appropriate directions within three months of the final determination of the pending case," the judge said.
Justice Naikuni ruled that Mr Criticos, through his company Kenya Trade and Development Company Limited, was unlikely to suffer irreparable damage as a result of the alleged encroachment on the disputed property.
The former legislator filed a suit in December last year seeking to restrain Japheth Mndambo Bashiri from encroaching, selling or interfering with the property until the ownership dispute is resolved.
He claimed that Mr Bashiri was developing the land in question, which would undermine the relief sought from the court if he is not stopped.
Mr Criticos claimed that he was the legal and registered owner of the land in the eastern part of Taveta Township that Mr Bashiri had allegedly encroached upon.
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"I have recently discovered that Mr Bashiri has purchased several plots of land within my property and has built permanent structures on them," he said.
He says Mr Bashiri action is trespass and requested that he be stopped pending the outcome of the case.
He claimed that the property was originally owned by the estate of the late George Criticos in 1988. He subsequently transferred the property to his company, Kenya Trade and Development Company Limited.
"In November last year, I discovered that Mr Bashiri had encroached on part of the property without any valid justification. Despite informing him of my interest in the property, my attempts to evict him were unsuccessful," he explained.
Mr Bashiri denied encroaching on the property and defended his ownership rights, stating that he had never had any dealings with Mr Criticos regarding the property.
He mentioned that the company had sold part of the property to the Settlement Fund Trust in 1990, where two parcels were combined to form the Lake Jipe Settlement Scheme.
"After the purchase, LR. No. 10287/4 and LR. No. 10287/1 ceased to exist as they were subdivided. I, along with others, were allocated land and given titles," he claimed.
He also denied that he had received any notice to vacate the land. He claimed that his occupation of the property became legal after it was purchased by the Settlement Fund Trust and subsequently allocated to him.
"I became the registered owner of the part of the property allocated to me in 2015. Immediately after that, I fenced it off to prevent herders from grazing their cows on the land in question," he said.
Mr Bashiri said he had fenced the land before Mr Criticos filed the case against him.
He also told the court that there was a similar pending case involving the same land and parties, and therefore the current case was a waste of the court's time.
