A court has cancelled a Nakuru land title after finding that the register was opened two days after the original owner died and another person was recorded as proprietor 11 years later.
The Environment and Land Court in Nakuru ordered the disputed parcel returned to the estate of William Kiiru after his family sued, arguing that the transfer was unlawful because it happened after his death.
According to the court judgment, Kiiru died on August 16, 1971, but the land register was opened two days later, before Fredrick Mbui was registered as proprietor on April 15, 1982, and the property later came to be registered in John Njogu’s name.
“There was no evidence from the white card as to how the transfer was done. Further, there was no evidence of any succession proceedings or any other person who had authority to transfer the suit property on behalf of the deceased. The plaintiff pleaded the particulars of fraud and illegalities and gave evidence to prove the same,” the court said.
The court declared the registration and transfer to Fredrick Mbui and John Njogu unlawful, fraudulent, null and void.
It also ordered the Land Registrar to cancel the entries and restore the property to Kiiru. The court held that property registration after an owner’s death, without succession authority, was unprocedural and could not stand.
The case was filed by Julius Wambugu, acting as legal representative of the estate. It arose from a land record whose dates became central to the ownership battle.
Kiiru died on August 16, 1971. The court heard that the White Card for the parcel was opened on August 18, 1971, two days later. Mr Mbui was then entered as proprietor on April 15, 1982.
The court described the sequence as “an anomaly and irregular as Kiiru had passed on 11 years ago.”
Mr Wambugu told the court that he discovered in 2014 that the property was registered in the name of Mr Njogu. He reported the matter at Bondeni Police Station and received an occurrence book number.
He also lodged a restriction at the Lands Registry on July 24, 2014, which remained in place when the suit was heard. He wrote to the then Nakuru Municipal Council asking it not to transfer the plot or issue construction consent because it was a site-and-service plot.
The estate sought help from the Kenya Human Rights Commission, which referred the matter to the National Land Commission. The efforts did not resolve the problem, prompting the October 2023 suit filed in court.
The defendants were served with the court papers, but neither entered appearance nor filed a defence. The court, however, stressed that their silence did not automatically establish the estate’s claim. It said that the party making the claim must still prove it under the Evidence Act.
The estate produced allocation documents, lease records, payment receipts, land-rate demands, correspondence and registry material. The evidence showed that Kiiru was the original allottee and that the disputed registration had no clear legal explanation.
The court noted there was “no evidence from the white card as to how the transfer was done”. It also found no evidence of succession proceedings or another person authorised to transfer the property for Kiiru.
The court concluded that the estate had proved its case on a balance of probabilities and issued a permanent injunction barring the defendants, their agents or anyone claiming through them from entering, occupying, trespassing on or interfering with the plot.
