Nubian community wins ownership battle for prime Kibera land
The Nubian community has won an ownership fight for a prime 288-acre parcel of land in Nairobi’s Kibera, ending a dispute rooted in the colonial-era settlement of Sudanese and Nubian soldiers in the area by the British government, which had enrolled them in its armed forces to pacify the region.
In a landmark decision, the Environment and Land Court has upheld that the Kibra Nubian community owns the land parcel, and has dismissed a constitutional petition seeking to revoke its title deed. The court, however, also rejected a Sh10 billion compensation claim by residents who said they faced displacement under a planned affordable housing redevelopment project.
“Since this is a title to community land, which involves a large group, it is my considered view that by seeking to cancel the said title, it will be tantamount to violating the Nubian Community’s right to property. Petitioners have not established grounds for nullification of the title,” the court said.
The judgment removes a major legal obstacle to the planned redevelopment of the land, providing greater certainty over ownership while clarifying the evidentiary threshold for challenging registered community land titles.
Kibera Lindi Friends & Neighbours Welfare Association, through chairperson James Wainaina Kiarie, and Bukhungu CBO 047, through chairperson John Shikokoti, filed the petition against the Attorney-General, the Cabinet Secretary for Lands, the National Land Commission and Nairobi City County Government.
The groups argued that allocating the parcel registered as Grant IR 149108 exclusively to the Kibra Nubian Community Land Trust discriminated against residents from other communities who had occupied the land for decades.
They said families, businesses, churches and schools faced demolition without compensation or alternative settlement and sought to halt the redevelopment project and secure Sh10 billion in compensation.
The dispute traces its roots to the early 1900s, when the British colonial administration settled ex-Sudanese Nubian soldiers and their families in Kibra after military service in the King’s African Rifles.
After decades of lobbying, the government allocated the land to the Kibra Nubian Community Land Trust in 2017 as redress for historical land injustices before unveiling plans for an affordable housing project.
The court found that the petitioners failed to prove ownership rights over the land or establish fraud, illegality or procedural impropriety capable of invalidating the community title.
“The Petitioners have not demonstrated any proprietary interest in the suit land,” the court said, adding that “mere occupation does not suffice” to establish ownership rights protected under the Constitution.
The court also found the petitioners produced no valuation reports or other evidence to justify the Sh10 billion compensation claim.
“It is trite that even in Constitutional petitions the burden of proof was upon the petitioners to demonstrate the portion of land they occupy as well as the value of their property but they have failed to demonstrate it,” the court said.
It also found that the allocation followed lawful procedures, including gazette notices, newspaper advertisements, stakeholder meetings and an objection process that satisfied constitutional requirements on public participation.
“Public participation does not require every view to be adopted in the outcome but so long as the views are collected, considered and collated,” the court said.
The court held that no eviction or demolition notices had been issued and that the petitioners had failed to prove that their constitutional rights had been violated or to justify the cancellation of the community title.
Crédito: Link de origem