Demolitions on Arthi River:; Did the Developers acted out of ignorance at the point of acquisition?

The prime land in question, LR. No 10424 located along Mombasa Road, Arthi River measuring approximately 4,298 acres has been in dispute between East African Portland Cement Company Ltd (hereinafter referred to as the Cement firm) and the Aimi Ma Lukenya Society (hereinafter referred to as the Society) who started invading the land after the Cement fim finished their mining operations 10 years ago.

Through ELC case No. 74 2014 as consolidated in the petition No. 10 of 2018, the Society sued the Cement firm seeking declaration of ownership and permanent injunction against the Cement firm from dealing with the land until the matter was heard and determined. According to the court documents the Society had produced fake Title Deeds with entry No. 7 claiming that the land was transferred to the Society on 20th May 1980 when the Society was not in existence since the records of the Registrar of Societies shows that the Aimi Ma Lukenya Society was registered on 25th September 2014.

The matter is set to be canvassed in the Supreme Court, the highest Court of the land.

Senior Counsel and Wiper Leader Kalonzo Musyoka and other Ukambani leaders called on the president William Ruto to stop the demolitions at the parcel of land, which is claimed by both (the Society) the section of Machakos residents and the Cement firm.

Consequently, these demolitions started six days after the Squatters lost a court case to the East African Portland Cement Company Ltd. The demolitions are being supervised by heavily armed police officers. Kalonzi Musyoka and other leaders toured the affected area before visiting Machakos Governor Wavinya Ndeti's office in Machakos Town. In which they called upon the government to stop the demolitions and evictions terming it a crime against humanity. The Environment and Lands Court ended the protracted land dispute by ruling in favour of the Cement firm. This left residents counting losses. When the leaders tried to address the dejected victims, police officers lobbed teargas canisters to disperse the surging crowd, which cut short their impromptu visit.

ABOUT THE PROPERTY?

The Land in question is LR. No 10424, measuring approximately 4,298 acres, is located along Mombasa Road, South Arthi River Township. It was occupied by Aimi Ma LukenyaSociety (Squatters) and 10 years ago after the Cement firm claiming ownership of the land.

CONCLUSION?

The victims might have known that the land in question had belonged to the East African Portland Cement Company Ltd but went ahead on purchasing the said property. The developers acted out of ignorance at the point of acquisition. To the potential buyers of land and property, "let not development supersede the physical planning".