Supreme Court rules in favor of Nairobi County in Kahawa West land case

Nairobi City County has received legal clarity after the Supreme Court dismissed a case concerning a more than three-decade land dispute over 176 acres valued at over Sh10 billion.

The ruling, delivered on Friday, brings to an end a 35-year legal contest over the ownership and administration of the property known as L.R. No. 71/7.

Five Supreme Court judges, led by Chief Justice Martha Koome, dismissed an appeal filed by Kamuthi, a cooperative society, and upheld earlier High Court and Court of Appeal decisions that found the land belongs to the Nairobi County Government.

The bench comprised Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu and Justices Isaac Lenaola, Smokin Wanjala and William Ouko.

Kamuthi, formerly known as Kahawa Farmers, has over 7,000 members and has maintained that it owns two parcels of land measuring approximately 154.5 acres and 21.238 acres in Kahawa, Nairobi County.

According to records presented in court, Kamuthi sold L.R. No. 71/7 in 1989 but did not excise the two portions sold to the then City Council of Nairobi.

The County argued that it had validly purchased the portions between 1979 and 1981 and that a constructive trust had been created.

In 2020, Environment and Land Court Judge Loice Komingoi ruled in favour of the County, ordering Kamuthi to transfer the parcels to the Nairobi County Government.

Kamuthi appealed, but the Court of Appeal dismissed the case in January this year, leading to the appeal before the Supreme Court.

In the Supreme Court matter, Nairobi County, through County Attorney Christine Ireri, filed a preliminary objection.

The judges upheld it, finding that the appeal dated June 24, 2025, lacked merit and jurisdiction.

“We can only but firmly conclude that the appeal has no legal basis and must be struck out,” the judges said while affirming the earlier decisions.

The dispute dates back to a period when the original directors of Kamuthi reportedly died before transferring the title to the defunct Nairobi City Council for land acquired between 1979 and 1981.

Kamuthi’s representatives had asked the court to declare that the sale agreement had lapsed because the transfer was not completed within the seven-year statutory limitation period.

With the ruling, Kamuthi is required to transfer the two titles to the County.

Should it fail to do so, the Chief Land Registrar is expected to complete the transfer process.

The County stated that the decision clears the way for issuing ownership documents to residents living on the property and securing public amenities such as schools and health facilities.