Land secretary Charity Ngilu addresses the press at her office in
Nairobi on January 22, 2015. She named the owners of a company linked to
controversial Lang’ata Primary School playground. PHOTO | BILLY MUTAI
By BRIAN WASUNA, bwasuna@ke.nationmedia.com
In Summary
- Airport View Housing Limited wants the High Court to declare it the legal owner of the disputed land it claims to have acquired between 1989 and 1994 after successfully amalgamating two adjoined pieces of land.
- The firm wants the Land minister and the NLC compelled to pay for damages suffered in the Langata Road Primary land saga, aside from getting back the land.
The private developer accused of illegally taking
ownership of the Langata Primary School playground has renewed his fight
over the prime property, with a fresh suit against Land minister
Charity Ngilu and the National Land Commission (NLC).
Airport View Housing Limited wants the High Court to declare
it the legal owner of the disputed land it claims to have acquired
between 1989 and 1994 after successfully amalgamating two adjoined
pieces of land.
The developer accuses Ms Ngilu and the NLC of
accessing the land without Airport View’s permission as the registered
owner of the land, and publicly declaring the firm’s directors land
grabbers.
“Without according Airport View a hearing or due
process as prescribed by the Land Act, the defendants dismissed the
petitioner’s title hence violating its right to property and security of
land rights,” the firm said in suit papers.
Airport View wants the Land minister and the NLC
compelled to pay for damages suffered in the Langata Road Primary land
saga, aside from getting back the land.
The suit comes barely two weeks after the developer withdrew another suit it had filed in court having been rendered void after demolition of the wall.
Justice Mary Gitumbi struck out the suit filed in
January, a move that appears to have set the stage for a new vicious
legal battle over the 1.4 acre piece of land.
The developer had sued City Hall in a bid to retain
the land prior to demolition of a perimeter wall it had erected around
the plot last December.
The firm has enjoined Nairobi City County and
Attorney- General Githu Muigai in the new suit. City Hall, has according
to court documents, erected a new perimeter wall on the land with a
signboard reading “owned by Langata Road Primary School”.
Justice Mumbi Ngugi directed the developer to serve
the respondents and return before her on March 5 (Wednesday) for
further directions.
The developer accuses the NLC of ignoring a number
of issues raised at a hearing on February 13, forcing it to file the
second suit regarding the land.
Airport View claims it paid Sh2.7 million to the
government between 1989 and 1994 for 10.9 acres, which the disputed 1.4
acres is part of.
Children
Ms Ngilu last month named Nairobi contractor
Harbans Singh as Airport View’s largest shareholder with 3,000 shares.
Mr Singh is best known as a politically connected Kanu-era contractor
associated with a former president and a former vice-president.
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