A 75-year-old retired teacher is fighting to keep a prime piece of land valued at Ksh3 million, and which she told court she has been developing for over three decades.
Sylvia Kagendo moved to court to have the matter pitting her against Salmon Ogembo Odhiambo determined.
Kagendo accused Odhiambo of demolishing her multi-storey building located in Mathare North, Nairobi County, which she claims she began constructing 35 years ago. She alleged that her efforts to report the matter to Muthaiga police station bore no fruit.
This led her to file a civil suit in July, for which she obtained orders to have the developer kicked out. According to Kagendo, the state agencies weren’t keen on helping her.
In the suit, Kagendo claimed that she was allocated the land in 1984 and was in the process of building rental houses under the World Bank affordable project.
“When I commenced construction, I engaged one Isaya Opiyo Odede as a caretaker to supervise the construction works.
"By the time the construction stalled, I had gone up to the first floor’s slab level. I then requested Odede to remain in the building as the caretaker,” Kagendo claimed.
She alleged that Odhiambo had acquired the land through forgery, claims the city developer denied.
Kagendo also attached a letter, dated Wednesday, August 19, from the defunct Nairobi City Council that confirmed her to be the rightful owner of the plot.
This was, however, disputed by Odhiambo who filed an affidavit claiming that he was allocated the piece of land in 1993.
Kagendo's lawyer, Muciimi Mbaka, countered Odhiambo's claims and argued that according to the developer's national identity card, he would have been only four years old at the time in 1993.
Odhiambo denied the allegations.
“The plaintiff has no capacity to prove fraud and comment on matters of investigations whose results have not been made public if at all such investigations are on, which I deny,” he noted.
