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Nairobi to pay KCB Sh90m in prime city plot legal row
Friday February 03 2023
Kenya Commercial Bank Branch along Mama Ngina Street in Nairobi. FILE PHOTO | DENNIS ONSONGO | NMG
A judge has ordered Nairobi County to pay KCB Ltd Sh90 million after forcibly taking over a plot on Kaunda Street over two decades ago, denying the lender a source of revenue.
Justice Lucy Mbugua further ordered the county to vacate the plot within 30 days from the date of the judgment and hand over the parking lot to KCB, who are the trustees of Kenya Cargo Handling Services Ltd Staff Pension Fund Scheme.
Read: KCB Group half year net profit up 27pc to Sh19.6 billion
The scheme acquired the plot in 1996 but they were evicted one year later by law enforcers from the defunct city council.
Although they continued paying rates to the land, the county has been charging it parking fees claiming that the land belongs to it.
“To make matters worse, as the defendant was generating revenue from the suit land, they continued levying rates upon the plaintiff. This is conduct which is unlawful, and untenable,” said the judge.
The court ruled that the county did not table any evidence at all to show that the title being held by the scheme was fraudulent.
The Land and Environment Court judge said there was no justification for the take-over by the county for the past 25 years.
Read: KCB names Rwandan unit boss National Bank MD
“No justification has been offered by the defendant for the occupation of the said land hence such occupation amounts to trespass. In the circumstances, the prayer for vacant possession is merited,” said the judge.
