Judge, his neighbours fight to save their Lavington land from developer

By , K24 Digital
On Wed, 16 Oct, 2019 11:31 | 2 mins read
Justice Joel Ngugi
Justice Joel Ngugi and several of his neighbours have sought the court's assistance to stop a developer from illegally accessing their land. PHOTO | K24 TV
Justice Joel Ngugi and several of his neighbours have sought the court's assistance to stop a developer from illegally accessing their land. PHOTO | K24 TV

High Court Judge, Justice Joel Ngugi, and several of his neighbours in Nairobi have been forced to seek the court’s assistance to save their homes from a developer.

The Lavington home owners are accusing the former developer of seeking to illegally access the land on which he built mansionettes that he sold to them over 10 years ago.

The Environment and Land Court issued an order restraining Fred Rabongo (the developer), Mary Akatch, Daniel Ochieng Ogola, Impulse Holdings Ltd, Muthangari Gardens Management Ltd, Dayax Investments Ltd, Nairobi City County Government, and Guangzhou Villa Ltd from developing the disputed piece of land.

“That the defendants jointly and severally are hereby restrained either by themselves, their employees, servants, and/or by anyone whomsoever from entering upon, constructing upon or in any way interfering with the Plaintiff's quiet enjoyment, possession and user of parcels of land more particularly described as Land Reference No. 3734/1045 and L.R No 3734/1046 until hearing of this application inter partes on October 28, 2019," ruled Justice Obaga on Tuesday.

The property owners rushed to court after Guangzhou Villa Ltd deployed an excavator on Tuesday.

Last week, the construction company tore down a wall separating the two pieces of land.

In order to be allowed to build the nine mansionettes, Rabongo was compelled to amalgamate the two parcels of land cited in the court order, and even built the septic tank for the homes on the undeveloped parcel of land.

One of the home owners told K24 Digital that they paid a higher premium compared to the market price in 2007/2008 for the properties because of the amalgamation.

Rabongo was also set to build a club house and a swimming pool on the undeveloped piece of land, amenities that never materialized in the over 10 years since he sold the mansionettes.

The home owners have questioned how the property developer was able to reverse the amalgamation and get two title deeds for the property, one of which they claim has been transferred to another person.