Court Awards Families Sh11.2m After Demolition in Mudavadi Stepmother’s Land Row
Seven families in Nakuru will get Sh11.2 million in compensation after the Environment and Land Court ruled that their homes were wrongfully demolished on land bought from the estate of Rosebella Jerono Mudavadi, stepmother to Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi.
Justice Millicent Odeny found that the families had proved their houses were illegally destroyed on Christmas Eve in 2009 in inhumane conditions. The demolition was done by the late David Kariuki with police officers and an auctioneer on the basis of a court order.
Following the ruling, Kariuki’s widow Jane Njambi and Gillette Auctioneers will jointly compensate the victims. They will pay Sh8.2 million for the value of the demolished properties and Sh3 million as special damages.
Justice Odeny said demolitions on the wrong parcel of land is unlawful eviction and the affected parties are entitled to compensation. She added that the families were not given notice or time to remove their belongings before their houses were brought down.
Members of Koyumkei Housing Cooperative Society who are the seven families testified that they bought the disputed 2.5 acres from Rosebella in 2004 for Sh750,000. The land was later subdivided into 16 plots for the members. Rosebella died in the US in November 2021.
James Cheruiyot the society’s chairman since 1998 told the court he rushed to the scene on the day of the demolition and found police enforcing a court order on Plot No.793 not the society’s Plot No.788. He said Rosebella’s estate administrator Geoffrey Kegode Mudavadi had told them that Rosebella had won a case barring Kariuki from trespassing.
In her defence Njambi said there was a boundary dispute between Kariuki and Rosebella over acreage. She said Rosebella had trespassed on a portion of the land and the eviction was backed by a valid court order.
But Justice Odeny noted that Kariuki had been previously barred from interfering with the land and even jailed for contempt of court before filing an appeal that remained unresolved at his death. She concluded that the eviction was on the wrong parcel despite the families protesting.They had documents of purchase, allotment, maps and details of the demolition.
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Court Awards Families Sh11.2m After Demolition in Mudavadi Stepmother’s Land Row