The Court of Appeal has upheld a decision declaring that the land occupied by Drive-In Primary School and Ruaraka High School is public land, dismissing an appeal seeking an additional Ksh1.769 billion in compensation over the disputed property.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

In a judgment delivered on Friday, July 3, Justices Wanjira Karanja, Francis Tuiyott and Weldon Korir dismissed an appeal filed by two city companies, ruling that it lacked merit and affirming an earlier decision by the Environment and Land Court (ELC).

The court upheld the ELC's finding that the two schools stand on land that had already been surrendered to the government, rendering the compulsory acquisition process initiated by the National Land Commission (NLC) unlawful.

The judges further ruled that the Ksh1.5 billion previously paid to the companies as partial compensation was illegal because the state cannot compulsorily acquire land that it already owns.

📌 What You Need to Know

"On the question of the lawfulness of the part payment of the compensation, it follows from our finding that the schools are located on public land by virtue of the surrender that the NLC had no legal basis upon which it could compulsorily acquire them. The doctrine of eminent domain only applies where the State initiates the taking of private property for public use," the judges ruled.

They added that the payment of Ksh1.5 billion to the appellants was ‘illegal, null and void’ because it had been made under a mistake of both law and fact.

The companies had asked the Court of Appeal to overturn the earlier ruling, declare the disputed land as private property and compel the NLC to pay the remaining Ksh1.769 billion in compensation.

However, the appellate judges rejected all the prayers sought by the companies and dismissed the appeal in its entirety.

Court records show that the dispute dates back to 2015, when a businessman, who is also the director of the two companies, lodged a claim before the NLC seeking compensation for about 13.5 acres of land occupied by the two public schools.

Although the companies acquired the larger parcel through an indenture registered in 1981, subsequent investigations by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and Parliament concluded that the portion hosting the schools had previously been surrendered to the government, making it public land that was not eligible for compensation using taxpayers' money.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke