What began as a fight for justice in the corridors of justice more than 40 years ago for James Mariata Muiru and Ngenia Farmers Limited, to occupy a disputed prime land in Subukia, has ended in tears despite winning the case.

Muiru triumphed right from the Magistrate’s Court to the Court of Appeal. But he cuts the figure of a dejected man after a legal eviction order was disregarded this month when politics subsumed the case.

On February 18, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua led the reconstruction of houses demolished by an auctioneer, Ventures Limited, who had court orders to evict squatters from the land. 

As Saint Augustine the philosopher mused: ‘In the absence of justice; what is sovereignty but organised robbery?’

Augustine’s quote resonates with Muiru, 72, who has never occupied the land after buying it in his youth, at 26 years.

Muiru is the current chairman of Ngenia Farmers Ltd. He says the dispute began in 1978, forcing them to move to court after being locked out of the property by Kiriko Farmers Company.  

Border line

The initial acreage was 1,096, he says, which was later subdivided into two between the two land-buying companies, as it was at a border line. “Some people later encroached on our land and unsuccessfully sought court orders to continue occupying the land,” he recalls.

“Enforcement of the order was long overdue. I was surprised that some leaders began to protest the evictions,” he added. 

He says it was wrong of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua to stop the enforcement of a court order, adding that Gachagua sided with one party without getting to the root of the dispute.

“The auctioneer was almost done with the job when the DP stepped in. Kenya is a country that respects the rule of law; leaders should not interfere,” he says.

Muiru notes that Gachagua’s move to stop the eviction was prejudicial to them, adding that they have been unable to use the property for over 40 years.      

Contempt of court

“We opted to resolve the dispute lawfully, but what is happening now is contempt of court,” he says. The chairman urges politicians to stop meddling in the matter and allow the law to take its cause.

“These people have their own land. If politicians want to construct for them new homes they should do so on their property,” he laments.

Josephat Ndung’u of Venture Auctioneers, tasked with evicting the families, denied claims by Gachagua that the area security committee was not involved in the process. He said that upon receiving the court orders, the same were served to the Officer Commanding  Subukia Police Station, who was to oversee the eviction. 

The OCS was to do a verification from the court, which was done, and the same was later presented to the sub-county security committee for review. 

According to Ndung’u, all this was done in April 2022. Later, he met the sub-county security committee in the company of Ngenia Farmers Ltd officials.

“The sub-county security committee requested the officials to conduct a search of the property at the land registry. This was done, and it revealed that Ngenia were the rightful owners,” says Ndung’u. 

Upon submitting the same to the security committee, he was informed that it would give its  resolution soon, but this dragged due to last year’s General Election.

“After the polls, we were told security agents were preparing to guard national examinations, hence we should wait until January,” he recalls. 

He adds that he was told to work with the sub-county police commander to fix an eviction date, which was set for February 14. But it was postponed due to a visit to Nakuru that day by the President. 

“Earlier, the local administration had informed those affected of the planned eviction and urged them to voluntarily move out; but some never did,” he states. 

The eviction started at around 6am on February 15. But at 11am, the sub-county police commander received instructions from the county commander to stop the eviction. “I resisted since I had a court order, and I told the police unless I got another court order stopping the same, I would go on. But pressure pied up and I had to stop,” he narrates. 

He adds: “The county commander received a call from the Deputy President to stop the exercise. We had to halt everything; it was so unusual”.

Despite those on the land claiming to have title deeds, Ndung’u says the same were revoked by the court in 1997 as they had been obtained fraudulently.  He says the land is currently worth Sh1 billion. 

“We want the court’s order to be respected. The occupants should vacate and allow us to do our job and present a report to court on the exercise,” he says. 

Ndung’u further accuses Gachagua of victimising the county police commander, Peter Mwanzo, for exercising his duties in compliance with the law.

“All members of the sub-county security committee were present and they agreed to follow the court’s order. Why should one person be singled out?” asks Ndung’u.

Bishop Jonah Kariuki, chairman of Kiriko Farmers Company, on the other hand, says they have been living on the farm for almost half a decade and that the eviction came as a shocker to them. 

“Some members have title deeds for the land they are occupying. We have been pushing for the remaining title deeds to be processed,” adds Kariuki. 

Inhuman activity

He says they were not served with the court order, adding: ‘This is barbaric application of the law where the police are used to supervise an inhuman activity’. 

Subukia MP Samuel Gachobe also said he was not aware of the court order and only came to learn about it during the eviction. He insisted the land belongs to the current occupants.  

The MP wondered why the alleged owners took such a long time to effect the eviction order, almost a year.

Court documents that ‘People Daily’ accessed show that an eviction order was indeed issued by Nakuru Chief Magistrate Josephat Kalo on April 20, 2022. 

It reads: “You are hereby directed to evict and remove all those members of Kiriko Farmers Company Limited, together with their structures, until vacant possession thereof is handed to Ngenia Farmers Company”.

The magistrate further directed the Subukia OCS to provide the auctioneer with the required security during the eviction. 

Magistrate Kalo had earlier, on August 7, 2018, directed that the families be evicted from LR 2684/2 after finding they had illegally encroached on it despite having an adjacent parcel of land. 

Kiriko Farmers had processed some titles, but these were declared null and void by a court order on April 30, 1979.