A Sh600,000 debt and a 90-day eviction notice
Nakuru Environment and Lands Court has found the society in breach of the sale agreement with Thuo Commercial Agencies.
What you need to know:
- Court finds the society in breach of the sale agreement with Thuo Commercial Agencies.
- Land dispute has resulted in gruesome killings and mysterious disappearances of society members.
A controversial land deal involving the Nakuru Workers Housing Cooperative Society has taken a twist, jeopardising the homes of its 421 members and culminating in a 90-day eviction notice.
The society, embroiled in a protracted legal battle over a Sh600,000 debt for the purchase of a 63-acre parcel of land in Pipeline Estate, Nakuru, now faces the grim prospect of losing its long-held properties.
Nakuru Environment and Lands Court Justice Anthony Ombwayo delivered a damning verdict, finding the society in breach of the sale agreement with Thuo Commercial Agencies.
The failure to pay the outstanding balance led to a breach of contract, prompting the eviction notice against the society members, who have inhabited the land since 1992.
In a legal saga spanning two decades, the land conflict had escalated marked by gruesome killings and mysterious disappearances of society members and officials.
Despite testimonies and defense presented by both parties, including government surveyor Wahome Werugia and overseeing lawyer Sylvester Muhia, the court ruled in favor of the plaintiff, Thuo Commercial Agencies.
"The case before me is that the defendant did not pay the whole purchase price. The upshot of this is that the defendants did not satisfy the principal of the last possession though they had been in possession of the land for the last 23 years before filing the suit. They have been in breach of the agreement of sale on payment of the purchase price. They did not pay the last installment, "ruled Justice Ombwayo.
In the agreement entered on March 6, 1990, the families through the society, agreed to purchase the 63 acres for Sh2,646,000 which was to be paid in instalments
The society paid Sh2,046,000 to the agency, but the payment of Sh600,000 balance became the subject of contention which led to a protracted conflict.
Thuo Commercial Agencies had sought orders to evict the society members whom it accused of trespass, while the cooperative society pursued recognition as the legal owner of the parcel and the right to process the title.
In his testimony on February 12, 2022, Maina Ndua, DIrector of Thuo Commercial Agencies, claimed that the society breached the contract by failing to meet payment obligations.
In defence, the Nakuru Workers Housing Cooperative Society presented witnesses such as government surveyor Wahome Werugia and overseeing lawyer Sylvester Muhia.
Mr Werugia clarified that the land was legally subdivided before acquisition, and the society paid the stipulated Sh 2.6 million in three installments between May 2, 1990, and July 11, 1990.
The conflict, however, transcended legal proceedings, resulting in a deadly confrontation with 10 lives lost, including six senior officials and four missing members in the course of the legal dispute. They have never been found.
Among the officials who have lost their lives in the struggle include Mr David Gitau, 46, the company secretary, and Ms Beth Wachie who were shot multiple times by unknown people at Pipeline area in Nakuru town, deaths which were linked to the land dispute in 2017.
Mr Wellington Oduor, the treasurer of the group, was gunned down outside his house by unknown men in November 2016.
Others include Mr Collins Ochieng who was a secretary, Tom Theuri, and another member Paul Njogu.
The violence erupted amid heightened tensions and disputes over land ownership.
After the death of the officials and the disappearance of the file, the dispute went silent without a solution being found.
But in the ruling that sought to bring the dispute to an end Justice Ombwayo, said the agency had the right to rescind the sale agreement because of the breach of contract.
The judge noted that the families were given permission to enter the land and use it for meetings but the sale agreement did not allow them to subdivide it until they paid the arrears.
He ruled that the subdivision of the land into plots was unlawful and in breach of the agreement.
The judge ruled out ownership under adverse possession, despite the families having occupied the land for 32 years.
“The society members have not satisfied the principle of adverse possession, although they were on the land for over 23 years before the filing of the case, simply because they had not made the last payment,” ruled Justice Ombwayo.
