The Environment and Land Court has dismissed a suit by a widow seeking to evict former Kikuyu MP Lewis Nguyai from a disputed family home in Nairobi’s Lower Kabete and recover Sh61.2 million in alleged rent arrears and profits.
In a judgment delivered on June 15, 2026, the court found that Betty Wanjiku Gakuru failed to prove allegations that documents relied on by Mr Nguyai to claim ownership of the property were forged.
Mr Nguyai maintained that he purchased the land from Ms Gakuru’s late husband, George Gakuru, in 1999 for Sh3.2 million.
The widow challenged the validity of the transaction, arguing that signatures attributed to her husband on the sale agreement and an acknowledgement of payment were not genuine.
However, the court noted that she failed to provide expert evidence to support the allegations.
“In the absence of expert evidence or any other cogent evidence demonstrating forgery, the court is unable to find that the defendant’s documents were forged merely on the basis of the plaintiff’s allegation,” the court said.
The court emphasised that the burden of proving forgery rested squarely on the plaintiff and that she failed to discharge it.
Signature test
The widow claimed that Mr Nguyai unlawfully entered the property on or about January 1, 2005, and took possession without her consent, authority or any lawful justification.
She argued that he remained on the land for years without paying rent and without recognising her ownership rights.
Ms Gakuru further accused the former MP of erecting and maintaining structures on the property without permission, contending that his continued occupation amounted to a persistent violation of her proprietary rights.
She told the court that she reported the matter to Kikuyu and Spring Valley police stations in 2008 in an effort to have Mr Nguyai removed from the land.
Despite police intervention, the attempts to evict him were unsuccessful and he continued occupying the property.
Ms Gakuru also accused Mr Nguyai of using unscrupulous means to avoid liability while remaining in possession of the land.
Ownership claim
Mr Nguyai admitted occupying the property but denied claims that his occupation was unlawful.
He testified that he had occupied the land since 2001 and that his possession had been open, continuous and uninterrupted.
The former MP rejected claims that he owed rent, insisting that no landlord-tenant relationship had ever existed between him and the widow.
Instead, he maintained that the property was lawfully sold to him by Mr Gakuru under a sale agreement dated November 24, 1999, for a purchase price of Sh3.2 million.
Mr Nguyai told the court that he fully paid the agreed amount and that the deceased acknowledged receipt of the money and undertook to facilitate the transfer of the property.
He said the transfer process was never completed because of circumstances affecting the deceased’s advocates, despite him having already taken possession of the land.
He further testified that he had extensively developed the property and occupied it with his family for more than 12 years without interruption.
In the alternative, Mr Nguyai argued that even if the sale transaction was found to be invalid, he had acquired ownership through adverse possession, having remained in open, exclusive, continuous and uninterrupted occupation of the property for more than 12 years.
He also argued that Ms Gakuru had never been in possession of the land and that her claim was, in any event, time-barred.
Court findings
The court noted that Mr Nguyai had produced extensive documentary evidence to support his case, including banking records, escrow account documents and a written acknowledgement allegedly signed by the deceased confirming receipt of the purchase price.
“Although the plaintiff challenged the validity of the transaction, she did not tender evidence capable of dislodging the documentary trail produced by the defendant regarding payment,” the court said.
As a result, the court ordered Ms Gakuru to transfer the property to Mr Nguyai within 60 days of the judgment.
Should she fail to do so, the Deputy Registrar will execute all documents necessary to complete the transfer on her behalf, effectively bringing the long-running dispute to an end.
