Court ends 40yr battle over land linked to the late Njenga Karume

The Court of Appeal has ended a 40-year battle over land said to have been fraudulently registered to a company associated with the late Njenga Karume.

A High Court ruling, that the Ksh.3billion land belongs to a women group under the name Mugumo Nyakinyua Company Ltd, was upheld on Friday.

The expansive 518 acres of land is located in Kiambu County.

Justices William Ouko, Asike-Makhandia and Gatembu Kairu dismissed claims by 800 members of the Gitamaiyu Trading Company Ltd that Mugumo Nyakinyua Company Ltd acquired the land irregularly and fraudulently.

The Gitamaiyu coffee pickers had alleged that Karume, who was once a Defence minister, used his influence to have the land registered in the name of Mugumo Nyakinyua Company Ltd.

The chairperson of Mugumo Nyakinyua Company Ltd was his late wife Wariara Njenga.

Lawyer Shairi Mwaura, for the Karumes and Mugumo Nyakinyua, however urged the National Land Commission to immediately withdraw a caveat on the land.