A woman lost land valued at Ksh400,000 after a mix-up with another buyer according to a case she filed at the Court of Appeal on Monday, May 15.
According to the court documents, two ladies separately bought the parcels of land in 1988 each accidentally occupied the wrong property, leading to a mix-up between their families.
To resolve the issue, the ladies agreed to exchange the possession of the parcels of land but one of the ladies died in 2015 before the process was complete.
This left the victim in a dilemma because the son of the deceased quickly sold the land in question to a third party for Ksh400,000. The land was later subdivided to 14 other individuals.
The new landowners quickly occupied their respective parcels and undertook various developments, a process that took place for about 12 years.
In court petitions, the 14 argued that they bought the plots as innocent purchasers for value without notice of defects in the title deed.
While the case was at the High Court, the judge ruled that the victim could evict the 14 occupants of the land.
The 15 persons mentioned in the case then took out a Notice of Indemnity with respect to any orders that may be granted to the victim.
The Court of Appeal then halted the process.
The court ruled that the eviction of the 14 would lead to the demolition of property worth millions which would result in untold and irreversible loss and damage that cannot be compensated by an award of damages.
"Pending hearing and determination of the intended appeal, the respondents be and are hereby restrained from evicting the 1st to 15th applicants from the suit property," the judges ruled.
When buying land, Kenyans are urged to check with the Ministry of Lands to determine the owner of the piece of land before falling into the hands of fraudsters.
