The Kenya African National Union (KANU) party has suffered a big blow after the High Court declared the Kenyatta International Convention Center (KICC) land belongs to the government.
In a ruling on Monday, June 3, Justice Jacqueline Mogeni said the KICC land was unlawfully acquired by KANU.
She noted that the commissioner of lands in 1989 had no power to alienate the KICC land to the party.
Justice Mogeni also overserved that KANU did not provide the court with evidence of how the KICC land was alienated from the public and allocated to the political party.
The High Court Judge revoked the title deed issued to KANU and declared that the land belongs to the Ministry of Tourism.
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"A declaration that the Ministry of Tourism is the lawful owner of the land and KANU registration is unlawful, illegal and unconstitutional," Justice Mogeni ruled.
KANU was kicked out of the KICC land through an executive order by the late Mwai Kibaki dated February 11, 2003.
However, the independence party moved to the Environment and Land Court in 2020 seeking to reclaim the premium property.
The Gideon Moi-led party argued that it was allocated the land on May 10, 1969, by the commissioner of lands and acquired the title of the land on May 25, 1989.
KICC is among the parastatals that the Kenya Kwanza government has lined up for privatization.