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A family has finally repossessed 50 acres of land in Juja, Kiambu county, valued Sh1 billion after a 15-year court battle pitting the owners against another ‘squatter’ family.

Relatives of the late Jonathan Kituri won the land dispute after going through three courts including the Supreme Court after which the matter was settled on March 17 after it was first filed in 2008.

The first ruling was made on January 17, 2017 by the Environment and Land Court sitting in Nairobi which dismissed with costs the case filed by Christopher Kioi and Wambui Waweru, administrators of the estate of Mwangi Kioi (deceased) seeking to be registered as owners of the suit property on adverse possession.

However, Justice Gacheru J. ruled in favour of the defendants Winnie Mukolwe and two others who are the administrators of Kituri’s estate. The matter later went to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court which ruled against the appellants.

Elated relatives of Mzee Kituri (deceased) visited the property and expressed their joy of getting justice at long last.

Among them were two daughters of Mzee Kituri, Winnie Mukolwe and Hope Wakesho who could not hide their joy after repossessing the prime property located next to Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT).

“We are overjoyed by the court after waiting for very long and spending family resources to get our property back,” Wakesho told journalists. Accompanied by Gatundu North MP Njoroge Kururia and their lawyer Mwenda Muriuki, the two said the applicants did not have legal documents to prove ownership of the property and relied only on “adverse possession” which applies when one lives on land belonging to someone else continuously for 12 years.

Wakesho said following the demise of their father who had bought the land from former Taveta MP Basil Criticos in 1969, their efforts to take over ownership were frustrated by the squatters who claimed they were the legal owners.