A Mombasa court has stopped the Rombo Group Ranch in Kajiado county from evicting more than 600 residents of Njukini, Taita Taveta county.
Judge Charles Yano of the Environment and Land Court said residents should be allowed to remain in the disputed land at the boundary of the two counties pending the outcome of the case.
“The order restrains the respondents by themselves, their agents and others from evicting the applicants and their families and or demolishing structures,” he ruled.
The residents had moved to court to stop a boundary agreement signed by Taita Taveta and neighbouring Kajiado.
Residents Jackson Kyule, Joseph Kang’ele, Josephine Muthoka and 638 others asked the Environment and Land Court in Mombasa to nullify the agreement. They said it was unconstitutional.
They claim that in the agreement their land was ceded to Kajiado and that they are facing eviction. Rombo Group Ranch is claiming ownership of the land that has had been disputed for more than five decades.
Governor Granton Samboja and his Kajiado counterpart Joseph Lenku on July 4 signed a historic joint boundary dispute resolution agreement that sought to end the longstanding row at Rombo.
Besides the two counties, the residents have also petitioned National Land Commission, the National Police Service, the Attorney General and Rombo Group Ranch.
The residents, all small-scale and peasant farmers, claim that they have occupied the disputed land since 1970s.
They further claim they were not involved in the process of the agreement and have been threatened to vacate the land since the deal was signed.
“There was no public participation by the residents who were the parties likely to be adversely affected by the decision,” the petition reads.
In an affidavit signed before the court, the petitioners want the court to declare that the act of forceful takeover of their land is in violation of the right to own property.
urther, they want compensation for loss of property and farm produce after members of Rombo Ranch allegedly grazed on their farms.
“We have a legitimate historical injustice claim that deserves to be investigated by the NLC. What annoys us most is that we are accused of trespassing on land we have occupied for over 45 years and which we legitimately know as our home,” ad affidavit signed by Jackson Kyule reads.
Central to the resident’s claims, the joint boundary agreement seen by the Star states that there is no unresolved dispute between residents of the two counties.
The boundary deal was meant to bring lasting peaceful co-existence between the communities bordering the two counties.
The case shall be mentioned on November 26.