Did you know that you can legally own a registered property without having to spend a single cent?
According to Kenyan laws, squatters or trespassers can legally occupy your land if they stay on your property for more than 12 years uninterrupted and without the authority of the owner.
The law is stipulated under the Limitation of Actions Act, Cap 22 of the Laws of Kenya. Known as Adverse Possession, the law defines the process of a squatter acquiring land legally.
“Adverse Possession is a method of acquiring title to real property(land) through the actual, open, hostile, and continuous occupation of the land at the exclusion of the true, registered owner for a period of 12 years,” the law states.
However, the government has put in place conditions to be met before a squatter acquires the land;
Uninterrupted period
For you to claim land, you must stay on the land uninterrupted for 12 years. Interruption in this context means getting evicted by the owner of the property or the government.
If you also voluntarily leave the property at a particular period in time during those 12 years you cannot lay claim to the land.
Occupation must be non-consensual and non-permissive
Before the court grants you possession of the land, you must prove that you encroached on the land without consent from the landowner.
Open and notorious occupation
The squatter must demonstrate that the occupation of the property for the 12 continuous years was public to the extent of showing that the possession is adverse to the registered owner.
In Kenya, absentee landlords have lost land to squatters who have encroached on their property and taken advantage of the Adverse Possession law.
In 2015, squatters in Likoni Constituency who had occupied a 930-acre piece of land belonging to Evans Kamau popularly know as Waitiki were given ownership of the property by former president Uhuru Kenyatta.
On November 22, the family of the late politician Mark Too lost a 25,000-acre land in Eldoret after the Court of Appeal ruled that Sirikwa Squatters had stayed for long in the land and were deemed, rightful owners.
To avoid your land being transferred to squatters, always make sure anyone residing in your property has a lease agreement even in cases where there is no tenant fee.
