The Environment and Land Court in Nyeri on Thursday, March 9, ordered ranch owners to surrender 200 acres of land to a businessman following a 10-year-long legal dispute.
In a 37-page court document seen by Kenyans.co.ke, Justice James Olola ruled in favour of the businessman who sued the ranch for withholding the title deed of the parcel of land in Laikipia.
"An order is hereby made directing and compelling the defendant to forthwith execute all documents and do all acts for purposes of completing the contract between the plaintiff and the defendant for the sale of the property...
"known as L.R Number 11571/36 and delineated in Survey Plan Number 361443 situate West and South West of Naromoru within Laikipia County," the judge ruled.
The land valued at Ksh50 million was part of two parcels, LR11571/36 and LR11571/37, each measuring 200 acres, offered for sale to the businessman by the ranch owners between December 2012 and September 2013.
Justice Olola heard from the businessman that the ranch owners refused to hand him after defaulting on the payment of the second land valued at Ksh60 million
The defence maintained that the two parcels were sold as one and that while the plaintiff cleared payments for the first, he did not clear a Ksh49 million balance for the second after paying a deposit of Ksh11 million.
However, the judge ruled that the evidence presented before the court did not prove beyond reasonable doubt that the sale of the two parcels of land was linked.
In response to allegations that he defaulted in paying for the second track of land, the plaintiff provided correspondence that he had asked the sellers for more time.
"The purchaser requests that the vendor does grant him an extension of sixty (60) days from the completion date being June 15, 2014," a letter from the businessman's lawyer to the seller's legal team.
However, the request for the extension was denied by the vendor, who then proceeded to terminate the sales agreement for both pieces of land.
The accused then attempted to refund Ksh61 million to the businessman, who refused to give his account details citing unfair practice and breach of contract.
Justice Olola questioned why the vendor declined the request, given that they had already sold a similar amount of land to the businessman.
He faulted the defendant for taking eight months to draft a land sale agreement after he paid the Ksh11 million deposit yet failed to grant him an extension of two months to clear the balance.
The judge ordered the ranch owners to grant the request. In the event that the buyer still fails to pay the balance, then he should be refunded the deposit alongside interest for seven years.
"In default of such payment by the plaintiff within the said 60 days, the defendant to forthwith refund the sum of Ksh11,000,000 to the Plaintiff being the deposit paid for the suit land together with interest at the then applicable bank rates of 22% per annum effective June 27, 2014, until payment in full," Justice Olola ordered.
Notably, the costs of the litigation will also be met by the accused.
