BABU OWINO AND KARAURI DEFEND SQUATTERS ON KIRIMA LAND QUESTIONS FAMILY HOW HE ACQUIRED 1000 ACRES

Embakasi East MP Babu Owino has said he will appeal to the Supreme Court against the Environment and Land Court’s ruling on 1000 acres of land in Njiru, Nairobi. Addressing the press at the Parliament buildings on Tuesday, the legislator challenged the decision by Justice Samson Okong’o to declare the family of former Starehe MP Gerishon Kirima as the rightful owners of the disputed land. The court also gave the squatters occupying the land until 31 December to hand over possession of the property to Kirima’s family and vacate, failing which they will be evicted. According to the lawmaker, Judge Okong’o erred in his ruling, arguing that the residents of Embakasi were the rightful owners because they had reached the legal threshold for land ownership. He argued that the residents had occupied the land for 12 years and 10 months from the date of Mr Kirima’s death on 10 December 2010, making them “more than qualified to occupy the land by adverse possession”. On the other hand, Kasarani Member of Parliament Ronald Karauri has waded into the land tussle pitting hundreds of families against former Starehe MP Gerishon Kirima's family over ownership of 1000 acres in Njiru, Nairobi. The MP addressed hundreds of families in Kasarani on Wednesday, just days after the Environment and Land Court declared Kirima's family to be the rightful owners of the land and ordered all squatters to vacate by December 31 or face eviction. MP Karauri, who promised to "fight head on," pointed an accusing finger at the government, accusing it of sitting on the fence while houses and apartments were being built on contested land.