A firm associated with President William Ruto has retained possession of 1,643 acres in Ruai, Nairobi, after obtaining a court order suspending a decree that handed the vast land to squatters.
Renton, the firm embroiled in a protracted legal dispute with squatters over ownership of the property valued at Sh13 billion, lost ownership of the land in October 2024 after the High Court ruled its papers were not legitimate.
However, the company, previously linked to prominent persons, including President Ruto, has moved to the Court of Appeal seeking to reverse the High Court’s decision to dismiss its claim to the property that has been for years shrouded in mystery. The firm on Wednesday secured orders to continue occupying the land - its lawyers said the company has been in possession of the suit property all along despite the verdict ordering it to vacate - and to lock out the squatters.
Police officers oversee the repossession of the grabbed Dandora Estate sewerage treatment land in Ruai, Nairobi, on April 22, 2020.
Photo credit: Evans Habil | Nation Media Group
Pending determination of the appeal, Environment and Lands Court judge Anne Abongo Omollo has suspended execution of the decree dated October 3, 2024 for a period of 18 months.
This means the thousands of squatters, who were looking up to occupy the land, will continue staying away and the company will continue using it.
Part of the land had been seized by the government in 2020 when President Uhuru Kenyatta was in power for a public utility project (Dandora Waste Water Treatment Plant). The land was declared a protected area.
A signpost erected on a road leading to the Dandora Estate Sewage Treatment Land in Ruai, Nairobi, on April 27, 2020.
In 2023, President Ruto’s administration, in a gazette notice signed by then Interior Cabinet Secretary Prof Kithure Kindiki , revoked the decision and privatised the property.
While the ownership of Renton has remained mysterious over the years, past official inquiries into the property have linked the company to Ruto and former Lugari MP Cyrus Jirongo. Renton’s parcel was hived off a larger block of over 4,000 acres.
Demolished buildings on May 16, 2020, of people who bought land next to a controversial 3,000-acre plot to pave the way for the expansion of the Dandora Sewage Treatment Plant in Ruai, Nairobi.
Photo credit: File
In 2014, Dandora Phase II representative Charles Thuo triggered a Nairobi County Assembly probe into the land with an intention to recover the entire 4,000 acres.
During the county assembly’s proceedings on July 16, 2014, Majority Leader Elias Otieno linked the land to Dr Ruto, who was then Deputy President in President Kenyatta’s Jubilee administration.
“The second topmost in this government and the former YK92 (boss), are the people who own this land. There is no way that we are going to talk about somebody who owns this land, [this] land is owned by Cyrus Jirongo and William Ruto and we should just repossess it. There is no point of just fearing their names…,” Mr Otieno said.
UDP party leader Cyrus Jirongo during an interview at his Mayfair Suites offices in Nairobi on October 28, 2021.
Photo credit: Evans Habil | Nation Media Group
At the companies registry, the file containing ownership details of Renton Company Ltd has been missing for years. The Business Registration Service portal also does not have any records of the company’s ownership or directors.
Court affidavits in six separate cases filed by Renton over the Ruai land have been sworn by James M Gatundu, James G Gachini and James Mubia Gitundu. It is unclear whether those were all different individuals with the same first name, or one person who used variations for his surname.
In the latest case, which has granted ownership back to Renton, the affidavits were sworn by Juliet Mukami Theuri.
Renton, which has been occupying the land over the years, had lost ownership in October last year after Justice Omollo declared that its title was acquired illegally and through improper procedures.
In that judgment, the court said: “Renton has failed to defend the root of its title and wishes to rely on indefeasibility of the title to prove its ownership of the suit property”.
The court ordered the cancellation of the title and prohibited Renton from undertaking any construction or selling the property.
It also declared the squatters (members of Kamunyonge Gatwoto self-help group and other individuals) as the rightful owners of the property. The Nairobi city county government was ordered to facilitate their resettlement.
However, Justice Omollo, while suspending execution of the judgment, observed that the company had shown it would suffer substantial loss, such as invasion by the squatters, if the decree is executed.
She took note of Renton’s pleadings and evidence that it was still in physical possession of the suit land as well as holding title in its name.
The company had said that this status was likely to change if the execution of decree was allowed to proceed, arguing that the thousands of squatters and other individuals may invade the subject property and adversely affect the title.
“If this court declines to grant the stay of execution, the respondents, who there is no dispute are several in number, will take possession and probably divide the suit land and change its structure. That will be highly detrimental to Renton Company Limited,” said Justice Omollo. She explained that the issue in the application was whether Renton stood to suffer substantial loss if the order of stay was denied.
The respondents include members of Ruai-Mathare 4A Self-help Group, Ruai Squatters Welfare Society, ex-Embakasi Ranching Employees’ Self-help Group, Kamunyonge Gatworo Squatters Self-help Group and other individuals led by Abdi Ali Fugicha.
Surrender vacant possession
“Secondly, there will be costs incurred to obtain vacant possession back as the respondents have not given undertaking to voluntarily surrender vacant possession in the event Renton’s appeal succeeds. Thus, Renton has shown that it will suffer substantial loss unless the stay is granted,” said Justice Omollo.
She, however, barred the company from undertaking further new developments on the land during the hearing of the appeal.
“The court orders that there be a stay of execution of the decree for a period of 18 months (one and half years) from the date of this ruling and the stay lapses if the appeal is determined earlier. The applicant not to part with possession of the suit land and not to undertake any new developments on it during the pendency of the appeal,” said the judge on Wednesday.
The squatters had opposed granting of the stay orders stating that the company had caused them untold suffering for many years thus should not be allowed to prolong it.
They argued that having them in possession of the land would not have put Renton out of reach of the property in the event that the appeal is successful.
According to the squatters, even if the court has powers to suspend execution of decrees, the same should not be used to bar them from enjoying the fruits of the judgment.
The court heard that there was no demonstration about the purported threats by the squatters to invade the suit land and the appeal had low chances of success.
However, the company convinced the court that the object of suspending the execution was to maintain the status quo and preserve the subject matter of the suit.
Through its representative Juliet Mukami Theuri, Renton stated that the subject land would be available to whichever party is declared owner on appeal. She added that no prejudice would result on the squatters as Renton continues to use the land.
On the squatters' demand to furnish the court with security pending appeal, she said: “The dispute involves land, a fixed asset, and not monetary compensation, making security unnecessary”. The lawsuit was a consolidation of four cases concerning ownership of land identified as L.R. 12979/1/R or LR 12979/1.
The court dispute started in 2003 in a case filed by Joseph Wairegi, Joseph Kairu, John Waruinge (suing as the chairman, treasurer and patron relative of Kamunyonge Gatwoto self-help group). They sued the City Council of Nairobi. Three other cases subsequently filed over the same property in 2010, 2011 and 2013.
During hearing of the case at the High Court, the company said it bought the land in 1996 from the Nairobi city council for Sh18.2 million and that the council was collecting land rates from the company.
It challenged the decision of the council to allocate the land to the squatters or alienate it for the sewerage project.
The Ruai land has been a subject of bloody conflict. Most prominently, surveyor Onesmus Mutinda was murdered by unknown gunmen along the Ruiru-Kiambu bypass, in what preliminary investigations linked to the ownership of the 1,643-acre land.
