Uchumi Supermarkets has sued a company owned by the families of late President Daniel Arap Moi and Joshua Kulei over a 20-acre piece of land located along Thika Road.
The disputed land is currently occupied by Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) soldiers on command of the Ministry of Defence. This resulted in a war between the retailer and KDF over the prime property since 2019.
Uchumi has for the fourth time in the last 17 years asked that the High Court declare them the rightful owners of the Ksh3 billion land.
The retailer argued that should the government be unwilling to surrender the land to them, they should be ordered to compensate them for it.
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The last valuation on the land was at Ksh2.4 billion as of 2018, however, the current real estate trends in the country may have the property at slightly over Ksh3 billion as of 2022.
KDF has maintained that it acquired the land in 1985 through compulsory acquisition. This id despite not issuing any public statements.
Uchumi on their part state that they bought the land from Solio Construction, a company owned by Moi and Kulei in 2001 for Ksh85 million. The land was acquired through the retailer’s subsidiary, Kasarani Mall Limited.
Uchumi stated that the government acknowledged its ownership of the land over the years through the National Land Commission (NLC), Nairobi County, the Ministry of Lands, the Kenya Revenue Authority, the Attorney-General, Director of Public Prosecutions and the lands court.
The retailer has sued the Defence ministry, Attorney-General Kihara Kariuki, Registrar of Titles and Solio Construction. The NLC and KCB Bank have been enjoined to the suit as interested parties.
None of the parties enjoined in the suit has filed responses.
Justice Oguttu Mboya on Thursday, January 27, 2022, gave the parties in the case 14 days to file their respective responses.
The case will be mentioned on February 22 to confirm if everyone will have complied with the orders.
