More than 600 people facing eviction from a parcel of land in Njiru, Nairobi belonging to the estate of the late Gerishon Kirima, have won a temporary reprieve after a magistrate halted their forcible removal from the disputed land.
The squatters were last month given until December 31 to vacate the land or face possible eviction by the family of the former Starehe MP after the Lands court ruled that they were illegally occupying the land.
But appearing before Justice Omollo on Wednesday, the parties told the court that they were negotiating with the Kirima family to resolve the matter.
Lawyers for all parties said they were unlikely to reach an agreement by the deadline set by Justice Samson Okong'o. The squatters, through their lawyer Seth Ojienda, told the court that they were in danger of being evicted but were still negotiating.
The judge adjourned the case to January 29, 2024 and granted the squatters an interim order stopping their eviction.
"We seek the intervention of this Honourable Court to grant an interlocutory injunction for the above reasons and for the same to be heard by this Court," Mr Ojienda said.
The court heard that one set of squatters had settled on 80 acres of land while another set occupied 65 acres.
The Kirima family has been battling the illegal settlers since 2003 and won the case last month when Justice Okong'o dismissed a claim by the squatters who said they had lived on the land continuously for more than 12 years.
Three groups of squatters claimed the land, saying they were entitled to it by adverse possession.
But Justice Okong'o said the squatters had entered the land and started building houses without any legal basis.
"The plaintiff (Kirima family) has proved that the defendants did not obtain his consent before encroaching on his said land and commencing construction thereon. Under the circumstances, the defendants were trespassers on the said land," the judge said.
Evidence before the court showed that the family owned two parcels, L.R. No. 5908/8 and L.R. No. 6852/2, registered in the name of Gerishon Kamau Kirima. Part of the land was used as a slaughterhouse and an adjoining parcel was used as a cattle ranch.
However, the squatters claimed that they had received allotment letters from the defunct Nairobi City Council, while others sought to obtain ownership through adverse possession.
They told the court that the land had been surveyed and the areas occupied by the various groups had been mapped and demarcated.
The squatters said they had occupied the land continuously for more than 14 years and had carried out extensive development on the property.
