Supreme court rules 25,000 acre land belongs to Mark Too's family
The Supreme Court has determined that about 25,000 acres of land in Eldoret belong to the family of the late KANU politician Mark Too.
The verdict by the Apex Court judges is a victory for Too's widows, Mary and Sophie, but a big blow to the 3,000 Sirikwa squatters who had claimed they were allocated the land by the late former President Daniel Arap Moi.
In their decision, Supreme Court judges led by Chief Justice Martha Koome have ruled that the late former President Moi illegally allocated the parcel of land to the Sirikwa squatters.
"Former President Moi had no legal capacity or authority to allocate or confer any legitimate interest in the subject suit parcels to members of Sirikwa or any other entity. Therefore, Sirikwa does not have a legitimate expectation to acquire and be allocated the suit parcel," the Supreme Court judges ruled.
In their decision, Supreme Court judges led by Chief Justice Martha Koome have ruled that the late former President Moi illegally allocated the parcel of land to the Sirikwa squatters.
"Former President Moi had no legal capacity or authority to allocate or confer any legitimate interest in the subject suit parcels to members of Sirikwa or any other entity. Therefore, Sirikwa does not have a legitimate expectation to acquire and be allocated the suit parcel," the Supreme Court judges have ruled.
"We declare that the finding by the superior courts below(Court of Appeal and the High Court) to the effect that the retired President’s approval of allocation of the suit parcels and the subsequent surrender of the titles was for purposes of settling Sirikwa’s members, violated and arbitrarily deprived Lonrho Agribusiness, of its rights over and interests in the suit parcels as guaranteed under Article 40 of the Constitution."
When permanently barring the squatters from accessing or interfering with the land, Koome-led seven-judge bench ruled that members of the Sirikwa squatters group were not squatters on the prime land located near the Eldoret International Airport.
"The evidence on record shows that no member of Sirikwa ever took actual physical possession of the suit parcels. The failure to take possession and occupy the parcels means that members of Sirikwa were not squatters on the suit parcels and therefore have no legal basis to assert a right to the suit parcels," the judges ruled.
