Former Vice President in the Mwai Kibaki era, Moody Awori, has recovered land from a trespasser.
In a ruling delivered by Environment and Land Court Judge, Anne Omollo, the court granted Awori powers to evict a man who had allegedly trespassed on a 30-acre piece of land.
The land is owned by the ex-Vice President's brother, Hannington Awori.
Justice Amollo stated that she was satisfied with the evidence submitted by Awori, who managed to prove his case against the trespasser, to warrant the eviction.
“In light of the evidence adduced, I am satisfied that Awori has proved his claim against the said trespasser for eviction only," the ruling read in part.
Awori, who had filed the case on behalf of his sister-in-law, Pamela Mary Awori, also petitioned for the court to compel the respondent to pay him damages. However, the court turned down his request.
“The former Vice President did not elaborate on when they discovered the trespass and what they intended to use the land for that was prevented by the accused's occupation. As a result of the omission, Moody’s prayers for damage compensation (for the trespass) fail,” Justice Omollo ruled.
When he initially filed the case in October, 2016, Awori had accused the trespasser of taking over the parcel of land and renting some of the buildings to third parties.
However, the defendant argued that he had entered into an agreement with the late Hannington Awori in which, the parcel of land, including the buildings, was leased to him or a period of 10 years at Ksh1.2 million which he paid in full.
Through his lawyers, the accused stated that he was willing to vacate the land but demanded a refund of the lease money as well as the moneys he used to renovate the buildings.
The court denied him the refund, explaining that he had not provided any evidence to back his claims and that he had engaged in the repair works without the authority of the actual owner of the land.
