President William Ruto (centre) Former First Lady Mama Ngina Kenyatta and former Taveta MP Basil Criticos.
When Dr William Ruto, who was the then Deputy President, bought 2,536 acres of land in Taita-Taveta from Mr Basil Criticos in 2017, the former MP was in the thick of court battles.
Mr Critcos, who is a former Taveta MP, was battling to save his properties, which the National Bank of Kenya was closing in on as it sought to recover a loan extended to him. On the other hand, he was battling squatters who had encroached on his land.
On January 19, 2018, less than a year after Dr Ruto paid for the land, he used the newly acquired property as security for a Sh200 million loan from a local lender.
But eight years later, Mr Criticos is still in court with his co-owner, former First Lady Mama Ngina Kenyatta, praying for orders to direct the Ministry of Lands to issue them with a title for 2,624 acres — the balance of land left after selling to Dr Ruto.
Court filings seen by Nation show that the Ministry of Interior intended to subdivide the land registered to Mr Criticos and Ms Kenyatta, and hand it to individuals it alleges are squatters under the Jipe/Kachero Settlement Scheme.
Workers repair a fence on the land belonging to former Taveta MP Basil Criticos (inset) in Mokine area Taita Taveta County on June 19, 2023. The fence was pulled down by locals.
Just four days before Mr Criticos secured a second court order directing the Lands ministry to process a fresh title deed, Dr Ruto, who was elected president during the 2022 General Election, revoked his appointment the chairman of the Kenya Trade Network Agency (KenTrade) five months before the expiry of his term.
Settlement of squatters
The president appointed Mr Criticos to the KenTrade Board in May, 2023. He was to serve as the board chairperson for three years, meaning that his term should have ended on April 30, 2026.
The Nation contacted Dr Ruto’s media relations team on the possible connection between Mr Criticos’ battle with the Kenya Kwanza administration for the land and his removal from the KenTrade board. However, there was no response at the time of filing this report.
In 2022, Mr Criticos and Ms Kenyatta were fighting a legal battle against the Lands ministry over the latter’s claim that the 2,624 acres had been surrendered to State years earlier for the settlement of squatters.
Court records show that despite the case still pending determination, the ministry released the original title deed to an individual identified as Mr Jonathan Kiraga, who claimed to be one of the lawyer representing Mr Criticos.
It was unclear why the ministry would surrender the title deed, which was the key subject of the court case. It would turn out, two years later, that there was no such advocate in the law firm that was representing Mr Criticos in the case. There are fears that the title deed may have been stolen.
The Law Society of Kenya’s online portal indicates that there is no individual by the name of Mr Jonathan Kiraga registered as an advocate.
On March 4, 2024, the High Court ruled in favour of Mr Criticos and Ms Kenyatta and ordered that the Chief Land Registrar release the original title deed to them.
The two filed a contempt of court application against the Chief Land Registrar for failing to obey the orders. In response, the Chief Land Registrar claimed that the title deed had been released to Mr Criticos long before the court’s 2024 judgment.
William Ruto at his farm in Taita Taveta back in 2021.
On December 11, 2024, a judge held that official records showed that Mr Kiraga had collected the ownership documents on behalf of Mr Criticos, hence it would be difficult to find the Chief Land Registrar in contempt of court.
The judge directed Mr Criticos to apply for a provisional title — a temporary ownership document which is held until a substantive one is produced to replace the lost one. The Chief Land Registrar was ordered to issue the provisional title to the former MP within 30 days.
Exactly one year later, the High Court has issued a similar order after it emerged that the same land is on the verge of being dished out to individuals that the Ministry of Interior has said are squatters.
On December 11, 2025, the High Court ordered that a fresh title deed be issued to Mr Criticos and Ms Kenyatta. The Chief Land Registrar was given 14 days to file a report confirming compliance with the order.
Mr Criticos told the court that on April 28, 2025, the Chief Land Registrar rejected his application for a replacement title deed, citing his failure to attach the court order, deed plan, copy of the lost title deed, and an inspection report from the National Land Commission (NLC).
He argued that the Chief Land Registrar was a party to the case which birthed the order for processing of a new title deed hence did not need to be served with the court order.
He added that the property in question is private land, hence far from the authority of the NLC, whose mandate is exclusive to public land.
The land was initially 35,177 acres when Mr Criticos’ father, George Vasil Criticos, acquired it jointly with Ms Kenyatta in 1975.
Part of the Criticos family’s portion was lost to a National Bank of Kenya auction, which sought to recover a defaulted loan.
Mr Criticos successfully sued over the unlawful increase of interest rates on the loan and sale of the property at an undervalued price. The court in 2022 awarded him Sh2 billion in damages for the 15,994-acre portion that was auctioned.
‘Surrendered the land’
In response to the latest court application, the Chief Land Registrar argued that Mr Criticos and Ms Kenyatta had surrendered the land for settlement of squatters in 1997.
The Chief Land Registrar added that the land has already been planned, surveyed and demarcated and the necessary documentation issued to the residents of Kachero Settlement Scheme.
The Chief Land Registrar also argued that the case from which the previous order to process a title deed came from had already been closed.
But the court held that the application was not to review its decision, but to implement it, hence issued fresh orders for compliance with the processing of the fresh title deed.
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Additional reporting by Brian Wasuna
