The National Land Commission (NLC) has lost a bid to reopen a Sh608 million Ndakaini Dam land compensation dispute after the Court of Appeal rejected its attempt to challenge a High Court judgment ordering payment to landowners.
Justices Patrick Kiage, Jamila Mohammed and Sankale ole Kantai dismissed the commission’s application and upheld an earlier refusal to extend time for an appeal against the February 29, 2024 judgment.
The judgment ordered the NLC and Nairobi City County government to pay Sh113.6 million in compensation, plus interest from July 6, 1990, until payment in full. The compensation award is estimated to be Sh608 million due to the interest.
The dispute involves land compulsorily acquired in Murang’a County for construction of Ndakaini Dam, which supplies water to Nairobi city and its environs.
The Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi.
Photo credit: Francis Nderitu | Nation Media Group
The landowners say they surrendered their property but have never received the agreed compensation, despite court settlements dating back to 1990.
The court petition was filed by Humphrey Crispus Mwangi and 33 others on their own behalf and for 106 other landowners.
They said the former Commissioner of Lands began acquiring land for the dam in 1989. They challenged the initial awards through 84 land acquisition appeals, settled by consent on July 6, 1990.
They sought Sh113.6 million in compensation, interest and a 15 per cent disturbance allowance. The court’s final orders granted compensation, interest and costs, but did not separately award the allowance.
The NLC argued that the acquisition preceded its establishment under the 2010 Constitution and that the dam project had not been handed over as an incomplete project by the former Commissioner of Lands.
Its legal affairs director, Brian Ikol, said the commission had not received the compensation money and could not pay funds it did not hold. It maintained that the acquiring body had to provide the money.
Nairobi City County also denied liability, saying it was not a party to the original appeals or consent orders, which involved the landowners and the former Commissioner of Lands. The county argued that the claim should be pursued against the NLC.
Justice Anne Omollo rejected those arguments. She found that the land had been acquired for the benefit of Nairobi City Council, the county’s predecessor, and held both respondents responsible for resolving the unpaid compensation.
She said the NLC had a duty to pursue the release of funds or facilitate direct payment by the county.
“The Constitution and Statute law clearly demand for prompt payment to the person whose land has been compulsorily acquired,” Justice Omollo said.
She ruled that the failure to compensate the landowners violated their constitutional rights, including the right to property and fair administrative action.
The NLC then sought permission to appeal outside the prescribed time. It blamed office relocation for a misplaced court file and said changes among commissioners caused administrative delays.
A single Court of Appeal judge, Justice Stephen Radido, rejected the commission's explanations and dismissed the application on February 26, 2026.
He found that the commission had not provided dates showing when it moved offices or when the commissioners changed, leaving the court unable to assess whether those events justified a delay of about 19 months.
The land owners led by Mr Mwangi opposed the application, calling it an attempt to delay payment. In his affidavit, Mr Mwangi said the NLC had continued participating after judgment, including challenging the taxation of the landowners’ legal costs. He also said the Judiciary’s electronic case tracking system recorded activity in the file.
The full bench said a reference is not a fresh appeal. It can succeed only where the single judge overlooked a relevant matter, considered an irrelevant one, misapplied the law or reached a plainly unreasonable decision. The judges agreed that the NLC had supplied no material justifying an extension.
“There was no material placed before the Judge to enable him to exercise his discretion positively in favour of the applicant,” the judges said. They dismissed the reference with costs to Mwangi.
