A decades-long legal battle over ownership of land parcel Gaturi/Weru/313 in Embu County is possibly heading to the Supreme Court after courts in Meru, Embu and Nyeri ruled against one of the claimants in a dispute involving two men sharing the name Ireri Ndwiga.
The dispute involves Bedan Ireri M’Miti against Ireri Ndwiga, who claims ownership of the Embu property.
The matter has been in court for more than 30 years and has passed through courts in Meru, Embu and Nyeri, alongside unsuccessful attempts at alternative dispute resolution forums.
Mr Ireri Ndwiga told the Court that he was the legitimate registered owner of the land and accused Bedan of fraudulently transferring the title into his name in 1975, after applying to change his name from Bedan Ireri M’Miti to Ireri Ndwiga.
Bedan denied the allegations, insisting the land belonged to his Gicuku clan and that he had been allocated the property in 1961.
He testified that he lawfully changed his name through the relevant Land Control Board in 1975 and maintained that the clan had originally registered him under the name Ireri Ndwiga.
Court records seen by KNA indicate that Bedan said his father, Ndwiga Karange Ireri, began working on the land after demarcation in 1961, while he was still in school.
He further told the Court that he paid the land adjudication fee on July 28, 1966, and retained the original receipt as proof of ownership.
Bedan argued that on September 17, 1975, he sought consent from the Land Control Board to correct his name from Ireri Ndwiga to Bedan Ireri M’Miti, after which the Board approved the request, leading to his registration as proprietor of the land on October 21, 1975.
He added that he settled on the property in 1973 and has lived there with his family ever since.
During the hearing, Bedan challenged the plaintiff to produce records from the land office, showing his name among members of the Kina clan.
A witness from the Gicuki clan, Karanja Mathanjuki, supported Bedan’s claims, telling the court that the clan allocated land to Bedan’s family at Weru and Kairuri.
However, the Court Judge Y.M. Angima ruled that the identification card used by Bedan to effect the name change was fictitious and had been used to fraudulently acquire the property.
In his ruling, the Judge said the Court was satisfied that ID card number 140839/61-5 was non-existent and was simply used for the purpose of fraudulent acquisition of the suit property.
The Court of Appeal in Nyeri, comprising Justices J.W. Lessit, Ali-Aroni and G.V. Odunga, upheld the High Court decision and dismissed Bedan’s appeal with costs.
The bench found that Ireri Ndwiga had proved he was the rightful person who was allotted the parcel of land and held that payment of processing fees by Bedan did not validate the title.
The Judges further ruled that Bedan used fraudulent means to replace the respondent’s name with his own.
Despite the setback, Bedan has now moved to the Court of Appeal in Meru, seeking certification to escalate the matter to the Supreme Court, arguing that the case raises issues of public importance which might be affecting many other Kenyans in similar situations.
by Dickson Mwiti
