The widow of the late businessman, Jacob Juma, has suffered a significant setback in her protracted legal battle over a contentious 18.25-acre property in Nairobi’s affluent Loresho neighbourhood.
Miriam Juma’s appeal to halt her eviction fro Juma’s appeal to halt her eviction from the Sh1.3 billion land was on Monday dismissed by a Court of Appeal bench comprising Justices Patrick Kiage, Abida Ali-Aroni, and Lydia Achode.
The court found the widow’s application lacking in merit, determining that the urgency she claimed was unfounded.
At the heart of the dispute is a protracted tussle for ownership of the land, with Juma pitted against Ashok Rupshi Shah, Hiten Kumar, and former provincial commissioner Davis Nathan Chelogoi.
Chelogoi, embroiled in a separate fraud case linked to the property, has also laid claim to the land.
The legal saga commenced in 2009 when Shah and Kumar accused Juma of fraudulently seizing the land, erecting a perimeter fence, and constructing security structures to obstruct access.
The widow countered these claims, asserting legitimate ownership based on an allotment letter dated March 1, 1992, and a subsequent grant issued on August 16, 1994.
In a landmark ruling in July 2022, Justice Loise Komingoi of the Environment and Land Court declared that Juma had acquired the land’s documentation fraudulently.
The court ordered the cancellation of the fraudulent documents and imposed a Sh50 million penalty on Juma for trespass and depriving the rightful owners of the property.
Despite Chelogoi’s subsequent attempts to overturn the decision, arguing a lack of opportunity to defend his case, the court rejected his application.
The Court of Appeal, in its ruling, underscored Juma’s prolonged occupation of the land, spanning 15 years, and questioned the urgency of her appeal.
The judges pointed out that ongoing investigations by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) into the matter would provide an opportunity for all parties to present their case and potentially resolve the dispute definitively.
The complex case involving multiple claimants, conflicting land titles, and allegations of fraud has captivated public attention and raised questions about the security of land ownership in Kenya.
