A court has allowed Eldoret Express Company limited to evict more than 1,000 squatters from the land in dispute, Tawai farm in Trans Nzoia County.
Justice Samuel Kibunja of the Environment and Land Court at Eldoret affirmed that the squatters had no legal grounds to claim the said land.
The judge also awarded police protection to the company in order to effectively carry out the eviction order.
"As it is evident from the affidavit evidence presented by both sides that Tawai has a sizeable number of people on the suit property, I agree with Eldoret Express that it would be desirable to have the law enforcement agencies in the County be involved in the eviction exercise.
"This will be through the provision of security who will oversee Eldoret Express taking possession of the suit property, so as to ensure law and order is maintained by all,” the judge stated.
The judgement has ended a 13-year protracted court battle over the Tawai farm.
Eldoret Express had alleged that the squatters, who are members of Tawai Limited, seized the opportunity during the chaos in the 2007 General elections in order to invade the land.
Court documents revealed that two title deeds had been produced from both parties- one from Tawai Limited on behalf of the squatters and the other from the bus company.
Eldoret Express alleged that it bought the land from Kaitet Tea Estates at a cost of Ksh40 million. Tawai Limited, on the other hand, claimed to have acquired the land through a loan from a local bank and used the title as security.
However, the court determined that Tawai limited had defaulted the loan and as a result, the local bank sold the land to Kaitet Tea Estates which later sold it to the bus company.
"I issue the order that the Tawai Limited’s application has no merit in view of the final determination of the question of ownership of the suit property by the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court of Kenya in favour of Eldoret Express.
"The application is hereby dismissed with costs," the final ruling by Justice Kibunja read in part.
