- High Court rules in favour of retired teacher John Nyaanga in land case
- Kisii Speaker Phillip Machuki’s title deed found fake and invalid
- The court says the land was meant for Nyaanga, who has lived there since 1977
- The speaker was ordered to leave within 30 days and stop collecting rent
- The bank notified property can’t be used as loan security
- Court orders Speaker to pay legal fees
A court in Kisii has ruled that County Assembly Speaker Phillip Machuki Nyanumba’s title deed is not valid. The judge said there were too many gaps and errors in how the document was acquired. There were no proper land records to support it.
One of the main issues was that the title bore the name of a land registrar who was not in office at the time. This raised serious concerns about whether the document was ever legally issued.
In the ruling made on Tuesday, the judge confirmed that the land belongs to retired teacher John Nyaanga. He has lived on the plot since 1977, having been given the land by the now-defunct Kisii Town Council. The court heard that the National Housing Corporation (NHC) had already begun formal processes to allocate the land to Nyaanga before any claims by Nyanumba.
Reports from both the NHC and the Land Administration Office backed Nyaanga’s story and confirmed he had been the rightful occupant of the land.
Court Gives Speaker 30 Days to Vacate
The Speaker was given a month to leave the land completely. The court ordered him to take down any buildings or structures he may have put up. He was also permanently banned from collecting rent from the property in the future.
In a serious legal setback, the court instructed the Deputy Registrar to inform ABSA Bank that the land cannot be used as security for a loan. This came after the court found the title deed presented by Nyanumba to be illegal.
Nyaanga’s counterclaim was fully accepted by the judge, and Nyanumba was ordered to pay all legal costs linked to the case.
The land battle began over 10 years ago. In 2014, Nyanumba filed a case against Nyaanga, saying the teacher was a trespasser and had damaged property. But Nyaanga told the court a different story.
Represented by lawyer Omaiyo Mogaka, he explained that he had been using the land peacefully since the 1970s. Though he had paid the original Kshs. 760 for the plot, he no longer had the payment receipt. He also testified that in 2014, the Speaker kicked him out of the land by force and took control after damaging the fence.
