COURT GRANTS ORPHANED SISTERS VICTIMS OF LAND GRABBING ACCESS TO THEIR HOUSE

COURT GRANTS ORPHANED SISTERS VICTIMS OF LAND GRABBING ACCESS TO THEIR HOUSE

By Chris Ojow

A win for two orphaned sisters against

an alleged land grabber of property

belonging to their late father’s estate

as the Court issues orders barring the

defendant from accessing the property.

Documents filed before the Environment

and land Court show that the plaintiffs,

Ms Sadaff Shokat Ali Habib and Sabahatt

Shokat Ali Habib, had requested the

court to bar the defendant, Abdisalan

Adan, from accessing their late father’s

house in a leafy suburbs Westlands

within the Capital City of Kenya and

claiming ownership thereof.

In her order issued on Thursday, 26th

January, 2023 Honorable Lady Justice

Lucy Mbugua of the Environment and Land

court at Milimani ordered that the

defendant therein should vacate the suit

premises pending the determination of

the main suit filed against him for

trespassing into the same property. She

also stressed that the orders shall

remain in force for one year pending the

determination of the matter, and that

the OCS Spring Valley Police Station

shall enforce the orders.

The documents filed before Court

indicated that the plaintiffs’ late

father Shokat Ali Habib transferred the

house to his two daughters as a gift on

27th May, 2013. The late Shokat Ali

lived in the property until his death in

2019. After his demise his two

daughters instructed Paragon Property

Consultants Limited to continue to

manage the property. Paragon took care

of the maisonette making sure all the

service charges were paid, on behalf of

the owners, that is the sisters, to the

management company Jaffa Court

Management Limited.

The defendant in turn claimed that he

bought the property from the late Shokat

Ali who transferred it to him prior to

his death.

Through their advocates, Waruiru Karuku

and Mwangale Advocates, the plaintiffs

had filed the case against the defendant

who they alleged trespassed into the

property and claimed ownership. They had

also moved the court under certificate

of urgency and in several prayers sought

to stop alleged fraudsters from

possessing and/or claiming ownership of

the maisonette valued at 75 million

Kenya shillings. The documents show that

the defendant had entered into the

property, prevented the plaintiffs and

Paragon Property Consultants Limited

from accessing the property, and that he

had started developments in the

property.

In her ruling and orders of 26th

January, 2023, the Honorable Lady

Justice Lucy Mbugua found that in the

interim that the defendant’s claim to

the property was unsupported. She

therefore allowed the plaintiffs

application and prohibited the alleged

land grabber, his officers, agents,

employees, servants, assignees, and any

other person authorized by him

restraining them from entry, occupation,

possession of ownership to the property

situated within Jaffa Court within

Westlands suburb.

Taking note of rampant cases of land-

grabbing in Nairobi and its environs,

this decision is expected to improve

investor confidence in Kenya’s property

marked by re-affirming property rights

of land-owners. It asserts that even in

interim phases of land disputes, parties

are expected to have a solid claim to

property and that any tenuous claims to

property will not be entertained by

Courts.

( Chris Ojow is Award winning Photojournalist and Founder African Times News Media website www.africantimes.co.ke
0724 656913-WhatsApp
onyangoojow@gmail.com )