A 19-year legal battle over the government's decision to take over a colonial-era chief’s land in Nyeri has escalated into a compensation dispute that could cost taxpayers a Sh729 million payout.
This is after the National Land Commission lost a bid to block the payout over alleged misrepresentation by the landowners and the exclusion of the Ministry of Agriculture from earlier compensation proceedings.
The dispute centres on the 134.9-acre Wambugu Farm in Gatitu area, about five kilometres from Nyeri town along the Nyeri-Karatina highway. The land hosts the Wambugu Farmers Training Centre run by the Ministry of Agriculture and the county government. The property belonged to the family of former colonial senior chief Wambugu Mathangani, one of the region’s largest landowners during the British colonial period.
Family members of the late colonial chief Wambugu Mathangani protest outside Wambugu Agricultural Training Centre in Nyeri Town on October 8, 2018 over land compensation.
Photo credit: File | Nation
Court records show that the government compulsorily acquired part of the land in 2007 after the expiry of a 50-year lease under which the farm had hosted an agricultural demonstration and research centre since 1957.
The State retained the property and the Commissioner of Lands then awarded the family Sh145.6 million as compensation for the land in December 2007. But the family, descendants and beneficiaries of the late colonial chief rejected the offer and lodged an appeal in court, triggering years of a long-running battle over compensation and inheritance.
In the litigation that also exposed weaknesses in the country's compulsory land acquisition system, the plaintiffs argued that the compensation was inadequate and unlawfully handled.
The latest twist came last week when the Environment and Land Court dismissed an attempt by the National Land Commission (NLC) to overturn a 2023 judgment that increased the compensation award from Sh145.6 million to Sh230 million.
“As a result of the respondent’s erroneous representation, public funds amounting to Sh729.1 million stand to be paid,” the NLC told the court, asking for orders to suspend or set aside the judgment and decree.
The NLC also argued that the Ministry of Agriculture had not been joined in the case despite being the acquiring authority, and that the court therefore did not hear crucial evidence on how the original compensation award was reached.
However, the court dismissed the application after finding that the NLC had filed the case improperly and failed to present a valid commissioned affidavit.
“The supporting affidavit in the application has not been signed and stamped by a qualified Commissioner of Oaths,” said the court.
The court also ruled that the commission had not demonstrated any new evidence or errors to justify review of the earlier judgment.
“It appears as though the applicant is seeking an appeal of the judgment in the wrong manner and forum,” the court said.
The ruling leaves intact an April 27, 2023 judgment that ordered the NLC to pay Sh200 million for the land and another Sh30 million for developments on the property.
The award overturned the earlier Sh145.6 million compensation assessed by the Commissioner of Lands.
A 19-year legal battle over the government's decision to take over a colonial-era chief’s land in Nyeri has escalated into a compensation dispute.
Photo credit: Shutterstock
The appeal had been filed by Ephraim Kariuki Wambugu, chairman of trustees of the Wambugu Mathangani family and one of the beneficiaries of the estate.
He challenged the original compensation award in 2008 after presenting fresh valuation reports placing the land’s value at between Sh427.6 million and Sh439.8 million.
The compensation dispute also exposed wrangles within the Mathangani family. Court documents reveal that the compensation remained undistributed for years due to disputes over the lawful beneficiaries.
The NLC told the court that payment stalled after the High Court ordered the compensation funds to be deposited pending determination of a separate succession dispute.
Another connected suit filed in 2020 complicated the matter further. In that case, another beneficiary sued the NLC and the Ministry of Agriculture, accusing the government of unlawfully acquiring the land without compensation.
In May 2022, the court ordered the Ministry of Agriculture and the NLC to surrender the title deed to the land after finding that the acquisition process appeared unlawful because compensation had not been completed.
“The Constitution demands that where land is so acquired, the just compensation is to be paid promptly in full,” the court said then.
But the government later returned to court and argued that the family had failed to disclose the existence of earlier compensation proceedings.
The Ministry of Agriculture said the land had been lawfully acquired and compensation awarded years earlier.
The court later reversed the 2022 orders after discovering another pending appeal file involving the same property. It concluded that the court had been misled into believing no compensation had been made.
The case has dragged through courts for nearly two decades while the government continued operating the agricultural training centre on the contested land.
