A Polish investor is crying foul after a neighbour demolished part of her perimeter wall in a property dispute despite a court order.
Iwona Strezelecka is embroiled in a legal tussle over a 1.9-hectare land in Diani, Kwale county.
The neighbour, a famous Kenyan tycoon with interests in the communications industry, says she encroached on his land and wants almost half of the Polish investor’s land, where she has built a hotel.
Strezelecka came to Kenya in 2007 when she bought shares from Estate Sonrisa Limited, which owns plot number Kwale/Galu Kinondo/48 in Diani.
Sonrisa has been in possession of the entire property since 1991.
In 2007, after buying the shares, Strezelecka embarked on construction of Hotel Sonrisa, which has 11 guest rooms, staff quarters, a bar and a restaurant, among other amenities.
“I came as a foreign investor and got a certificate. I came here to start a new life,” Strezelecka said.
The hotel started operations in 2013.
However, in 2014, the tycoon neighbour filed a case in Mombasa claiming ownership of the property against an individual who had been occupying the property.
In the same case he also claimed that Sonrisa had encroached on his property by 1ha, based on the acreage on Sonrisa’s title that indicated 0.9 ha instead of 1.9 as it was on the ground and all relevant documents and maps at both the Lands Registry and Survey of Kenya.
The legal tussle revolving around the error in Sonrisa’s title deed, which indicated the land size was 0.9ha instead of the 1.9ha as indicated in the maps and other documents, is to be determined on February 16.
The Land Court in Kwale, where Sonrisa filed a suit over the land size, issued temporary orders of injunction restraining the registrar, regional surveyor and the Kenyan tycoon from dealing adversely with the Sonrisa’s property pending the determination.
However, on January 23, around 2.30am, Strezelecka and her guests in the hotel were woken up by the sounds of two excavators pulling down the perimeter wall.
“The two machines were heading towards one of the hotel buildings. With the assistance of my staff and the guests, we managed to stop the excavators,” she said.
The two excavator drivers had no documents to support their actions and were arrested when police came but were released on a cash bail.
“We are still waiting for the criminal case to start. It has failed to start twice, each time being postponed because of a missing file,” the Polish investor said.
Meanwhile, the tycoon obtained an eviction order on January 24 from a Mombasa court, which was stayed on January 25 by another Mombasa court after application by Sonrisa through advocate Oluoch Wambi. BY THE STAR