Residents of Njiru in Nairobi who are facing eviction following a court order yesterday asked President William Ruto to intervene in the matter.

Thousands of the residents are facing homelessness following a judgment by the Environment and Land Court ordering them out of close to 1,000 acres of land owned by the late politician Gerishon Kirima who passed on in December 2010.

In a public meeting hosted by Kasarani MP Ronald Karauri in Njiru yesterday, the residents pleaded with the president to intervene in a bid to save them from eviction.
Karauri promised to have the matter appealed in court even as he leads the residents in talks with the Kirima family.

“The first thing we are going to do is to appeal the judgment and seek time to meet the Kirima family so that we can save thousands of residents here from the impending evictions,” said Karauri.

He announced that the residents are ready for talks with Kirima family and also that he is ready to lead a delegation to have the matter solved amicably without eviction of any resident of the affected areas as the court ordered.

Rendered homeless

“We are not seeking negotiation from a point of weakness but want the voice of the thousands of residents who may be rendered homeless heard,” said Karauri.

The residents want the state to handle the Njiru land case in the same way it resolved the Waitiki land tussle at the coast.

In the Waitiki land case, the owner of the controversial 943-acre land in Likoni Evanson Kamau Waitiki was paid Sh1.2 billion by the government. The Waitiki settlement came after a total of 2.5 million titles had been issued between 1963 and 2013.

In their intention to appeal the judgment, Karauri said they are now seeking answers on how the Kirima family obtained the over 970 acres of land. He added that if it can be ascertained that the land was obtained wrongfully by the Kirima family then the judgment requiring the residents to vacate it stands null and void.

“There is no way one family was capable of having the whole of Njiru. We want to find out where Kirima got this land,” said Karauri.

In a judgment delivered by Justice S Okong’o, those occupying the over 970 acres of land have up to December 31, 2023 to vacate or be evicted from the property by Kirima Estate administrators. The judgment was a culmination of a long-protracted court battle between the administrators and residents who acquired the property through self-help groups.

Chairperson of the Association of Real Estate Stakeholders Kinyua Wairatu said the association is ready to lead the talks between the residents and the Kirima family should they fail to find arbitrators who they trust.

“If the Kirima family doesn’t believe anybody in this matter then they should believe us because we are ready to lead talks between them and the residents,” said Wairatu.

The judgment delivered on Monday consolidated all the six cases that had been filed in relation to the ownership of the parcels of land. The court declared the late Gerishon Kirima as the registered owner of the parcels of land.

In the first case filed by John Otieno Obade on his own behalf and on behalf of 299 others who had moved to court seeking to be recognised as the rightful owners of 60 acres parcel of land in Kirima Njiru Farm, Justice Okong’o said they have no valid claim over the land and should vacate by end of December, failure to which Kirima estate are at liberty to evict them.

In the second case filed by Kamatuto Self Help Group on behalf of 1,310 others the court dismissed their case saying they have no valid claim over L.R No. 5908/8. The group has also been ordered to vacate the land by December 31 or face eviction.

The same directions apply to the third suit filed by the Naridai Muoroto Self Help Group who the court says have no valid claim over the same piece of land claimed by the Kamatuto Self Help Group.

However, the court in a case filed by Paul Ndungu Kioi who told the court he had bought the land from the late Kirima, Justice Okong’o directed that the administrators of Kirima estate, Teresia Wairimu Kirima and Anne Wangari Kirima, complete the sale of the stated portions of land.