The Environment and Land Court has set out what landowners must prove before obtaining an eviction order, ruling that possession of a title deed alone is not enough to establish that another person has trespassed.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

Justice Oguttu Mboya of the Environment and Land Court in Isiolo said a person alleging trespass must prove not only ownership of the property but also that an unauthorised act was committed on the specific parcel of land.

The ruling followed an appeal by a man who had been ordered by a lower court to vacate a parcel of land after he was accused of trespassing and putting up a structure without the owner's permission.

The man challenged the eviction, arguing that he had not constructed the structure and that it stood on a different parcel of land owned by his mother.

📌 What You Need to Know

The dispute went beyond who held the title deed, with the key question being whether the structure in question was actually located on the land claimed by the person who sought the eviction.

The judge noted that the alleged location of the structure had been specifically disputed and that the person accused of trespass had maintained that it stood on a different parcel.

In such circumstances, the court said, evidence from an expert such as a surveyor or Land Registrar could have been used to establish the boundaries and exact location of the structure.

Additionally, the court also faulted a lower court for shifting the burden of proof to the person accused of trespass , where Justice Mboya said that the responsibility remained with the person making the trespass claim to prove it.

Having treated the lower court as having effectively treated ownership of the land as sufficient proof of trespass, he allowed the appeal.

The ruling provided a practical checklist for landowners in eviction disputes where one needs proof of ownership, identify the specific act that amounts to trespass, and show the act happened without permission.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke