Court directs NLC, highways agency to join City Cabanas land dispute

A court has ordered the National Land Commission (NLC) and the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) to join a legal battle over the ownership of land where City Cabanas Restaurant is located.

Justice Samson Angote said the two institutions are important to settling the dispute that has been in court for nearly ten years.

Simandi Investment Ltd, represented by Simon Nyamanya Ondiba and Mary Nyamanya, filed the case in 2016 to challenge a land title held by Rosaline Njeri Macharia.

Ondiba told the court that KeNHA and NLC were served with the court papers and hearing notices, but did not show up.

Lawyer Ochieng’ Oduol, representing Macharia, said the two institutions have key documents related to the land.

Simandi Investment says it bought the land in July 1994 for 60 million shillings from the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI).

The company claims it later divided the land into two parts and owned it without issues until August 2016, when Macharia allegedly invaded the land and built a perimeter wall without permission.

"The first defendant continues to trespass to (sic) the said land parcels and had in fact built a perimeter wall without the consent or authority of the plaintiff who is the legal, legitimate and rightful and registered owner of the property, hence infringing on the plaintiff’s proprietary ownership rights," Ondiba said.

Macharia denies the claims and says she is the true owner, accusing Simandi Investments of obtaining its title fraudulently.

An earlier attempt by Simandi Investments to stop the NLC from paying Macharia Sh1.6 billion in compensation for land taken by KeNHA for the Nairobi Expressway was unsuccessful.

The court has postponed the case to May 22 to give further directions and to decide on Simandi Investment’s request to remove some affidavits filed by Macharia in defense of her title.