Deputy President William Ruto seems to have a change of heart in his quest to maintain the ownership of the controversial Weston Hotel Land along Lang'ata Road in Nairobi.
A report by The Standard on Monday, August 10, indicated that the DP, through lawyer Ahmednassir Abdullahi, had filed a suit reportedly urging the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) to accept payment for his acquisition of the land.
The hotel is said to be pursuing the conclusion of negotiations to determine how much it will part with to acquire the parcel when that happens, the company will arguably be paying for the land for a second time.
The hotel argued that KCAA had not exhausted the remedies offered by the National Lands Commission (NLC) that had ordered the authority to conclude negotiations.
The company accused KCAA of abusing the court process by filing multiple suits in different forums yet NLC had settled the matter and the only way to get ahead was to file an appeal.
“The determination of the dispute between the petitioner and the second respondent (Weston) had already been made by a commission of competent jurisdiction.
"This, coupled with the express and mandatory provision of the Constitution of Kenya 2010, and the NLC Act that expressly provides for a detailed process of how to handle the disputes of the genre before this court. The same cannot be ignored or wished away by the petitioner herein and the court,” read the court papers in part.
In their defence, KCAA argued that its only desire was to repossess the land claiming that it had applied for the reinstitution of the land and no compensation had been ordered.
“The first respondent’s (NLC) determination further is irrational and irregular, as no party pleaded for compensation. The final order also fails to account for the fixtures on the land, making the order ambiguous and absurd and incapable of implementation.
“Similarly, the determination is irrational because it deliberately turned a blind eye to the corrupt dealings of the second (Weston Hotel), third (Priority Limited) and fourth (Monene Investments Limited) respondents instead of upholding the petitioner’s legitimate expectation to the enforcement of its property rights, thereby setting a bad precedent that wrongfully elevates land grabbing by private entities beyond legal reproach,” claimed KCAA according to the publication.
In December 2019, the hotel had claimed that it would be unfair to compensate Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) for the property arguing that it had done its due diligence on establishing that the title issued to them was authentic.
The hotel further stated that it was aggrieved by NLC's order to compensate KCAA for the 0.773ha parcel.
"The second respondent (Weston Hotel) deems this determination as absurd given that the first respondent (National Land Commission) made a finding that the second respondent is a bona fide purchaser of the land," they claimed at the time.
In a May 2018 report by Zenith Valuers, the hotel was valued at Ksh300 million.
The directors of Weston Hotel are listed as William Ruto, Rachel Chebet Kimeto and Charlene Chelagat Ruto.
