Ruto Renews Bid To Save Weston Hotel From Demolition

DP William Ruto (left) and Weston Hotel building along Lang'ata Road Nairobi.
DP William Ruto (left) and Weston Hotel building along Lang'ata Road Nairobi.
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Deputy President William Ruto has lodged a fresh legal application seeking to halt the demolition of the Weston Hotel which was found to have been irregularly built on public land. 

The case pitting Weston Hotel and Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) is set to resume on Monday, July 12 in the Environment and Lands Court.

Weston is pushing the court to postpone the hearing arguing that it intends to file an appeal on the case.

A photo collage of Senior Counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi and Deputy President William Ruto
A photo collage of Senior Counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi and Deputy President William Ruto
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Lawyer Ahmednassir Abdullahi who is representing Weston wants the case pushed to next year to allow his team to file for an appeal.

Ahmednassir intends to raise 11 grounds of appeal. In one of the appeals, he argues that the Environment and Lands Court has no jurisdiction to hear KCAA’s case as a new matter.

DP Ruto lawyers have also castigated the presiding judge Bernard Eboso for failing to rule that NLC has powers to hear and determine cases involving public land.

“The impugned ruling offends the doctrines of exhaustion of remedies and condones the prohibition against the principle of constitution avoidance."

"The ruling of March 3, 2021, will occasion a gross miscarriage of justice unless stayed," the hotel argues in court papers. 

On the other hand, KCAA is accusing Weston of employing delaying tactics to save the hotel from demolition.

KCAA director-general Gilbert Kibe, through lawyers Otiende Amollo and Stephen Ligunya, has said that Weston hotel has been pushing for the postponement of the case without filing a formal appeal.

“This application is specifically intended to delay the hearing of the substantive petition for a nefarious reason. The second respondent (Weston) has not filed submissions on the main petition for over two years now in breach of directions issued multiple times,” KCAA submissions read in part. 

Weston which sits on a 0.773 hectares piece of land opposite Wilson Airport in June last year, accused KCAA of defying orders from NLC to conclude negotiations on the land after which Ruto would compensate it.

NLC had asked KCAA to allow the DP to compensate it at the market rate. However, the aviation authority has insisted that it wants back its land - arguing that compensation would encourage further encroachment of public land. 

Ruto has not disputed that the land belongs to KCAA but claimed he was an innocent buyer from a third party. 

Judge Eboso disagreed with the hotel in March this year where he ruled that the Environment and Lands Court had the powers to hear the case.

He then ordered both KCAA and Weston to prepare for the case hearing on Monday, July 12.  

A file image of Weston Hotel
A file image of Weston Hotel
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