Nairobi City County loses court battle to own Embakasi plots

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Nairobi City County loses court battle to own Embakasi plots

Nairobi City County has lost a petition seeking to be declared the owner of controversial plots in Embakasi. Kenya Airports Authority KAA Justice Oscar Angote dismissed the case by the county stating that City Hall did not prove ownership.

The Environment and Land Court judge said the county did not provide evidence to prove how it acquired the four-acre parcel in Embakasi Village and show that title documents held by KAA were fake.

The court finds that the particulars in the Valuation Roll cannot prove ownership of the suit properties in the circumstances. The court is not able to make a finding that the suit properties belong to the plaintiff, said Justice Oscar Angote.

A year ago, City Hall lost a similar case. The court slapped the county with a fine of 1.5 million for trespass after it tried to evict airport staff in 1998.

The KAA said the government gave it the land and established a housing estate known as Embakasi Village. The houses were for its employees, known as the Department of Aerodromes, and other civil servants working at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

In January 1998, the city council officials stormed the houses, pretending to own the property, and tried to evict the occupants unless they paid rent. The matter was settled by consent and the agency moved to court. Some 42 houses belong to KAA, but the market and social hall belong to the county, according to the consent.

The city county was at it again and moved to evict KAA staff from four houses unless they paid rent, prompting a new court battle.

City Hall said despite KAA claiming to have a grant of the parcels in 1998, it exerted pressure on the defunct city council in 2007 to sell the plots to the agency, but the request was denied because the land was not available for alienation.

The county government filed three allotment letters to prove that it owned the plots starting with one issued in 1964.