This archive report was first published on 28 August 2019.
Four Mombasa residents, Rahimkhan Afzalkan, Shamshad Begum, Pauline Mwongela, and Sayed Mushtaq, had been awarded Sh30 million per acre by a High Court judge, Erick Ogola, for the compulsory acquisition of their land. However, the Court of Appeal has overturned this decision, ordering the case to be sent back to the High Court for a fresh assessment of the compensation.
The Attorney General had appealed the lower court ruling, arguing that the land deal was a failed private transaction. The appellate court agreed, stating that the High Court judge had not properly evaluated how the land was lost. The judges also found that it was unfair for the Government to kick out the complainants from land they had legitimately acquired, only to sell it to a private company.
According to the appellate court, the Government's actions constituted unlawful deprivation of the respondents' property rights. The land in question, nicknamed the 'Jewel of South Coast', was originally owned by Eleanor Wailes, a white settler, who transferred it to the four residents for Sh140,000 in 1978. However, the title was later cancelled, and the land was transferred to Kasika Developers, a company allegedly owned by top Government officials.
The Court of Appeal's decision has left the four residents without the Sh9.8 billion compensation they were initially awarded. The case will now be reassessed by the High Court to determine the fair value of the land.
