DNK International By Our Correspondent,Ruiru
About 200 developers who bought land on the controversial Kangaita Estate in Ruiru, linked to former spy chief Joseph Kanyotu, are now staring at imminent eviction after the Court of Appeal rejected their bid to stop the process.
The appellate court lifted earlier stay orders that had restrained Kangaita Estate Limited from evicting the developers, effectively clearing the way for the enforcement of eviction orders issued by the Environment and Land Court (ELC).
The decision was made during a mention of the case on December 19, 2025, when the court declined a request by the developers to extend the stay orders that were set to lapse on the same day.
Instead, the judges indicated they would issue further directions on February 26, 2026.
By vacating the stay orders, the Court of Appeal handed the administrators of the late Kanyotu’s estate the legal green light to evict individuals who bought the land through what courts have since described as fraudulent transactions.
The developers are accused of purchasing the plots from Ukombozi Holdings Limited, which the ELC ruled had no legal capacity to sell the land.
In a landmark ruling delivered on July 10, 2025, Justice Oguttu Mboya declared the sale of the 500 acre parcel belonging to Kangaita Coffee Estate Limited illegal, null and void, and ordered the eviction of all current occupants.
Justice Mboya ruled that the land transactions were riddled with fraud and were conducted in blatant defiance of existing court orders.
The land, located in Ruiru, Kiambu County, forms part of the estate of the late Joseph Kanyotu, Kenya’s longest serving intelligence chief.
According to the court, High Court orders issued in a 2010 succession case had expressly barred any dealings with Kanyotu’s properties, including land parcel L.R. No. 11261/76.
“The subsequent sales from Kangaita Coffee Estate Limited to Trendsetters Investment Limited, then to Marriot Africa International Limited, and finally to Ukombozi Holdings Limited were all null and void.
Forged Land Control Board consents and forged signatures were used in the process,” Justice Mboya ruled.
The judge further held that the purchasing companies, including Marriot Africa International Limited, were not bona fide purchasers, having failed to conduct proper due diligence despite having constructive notice of the legal encumbrances on the land.
Following the revocation of
the titles, the court issued eviction orders giving hundreds of unsuspecting third party buyers 90 days to vacate, surrender ownership documents, and demolish any structures erected on the property.
Kangaita Coffee Estates Limited, the fourth defendant in the case, was a company in which the late Kanyotu was the majority shareholder.
Following his death, the land became part of his estate under High Court Succession Cause No. 1239 of 2008, which had explicitly prohibited any transactions involving the property.
Despite the restrictions, the land was allegedly sold to Trendsetters Investment Limited, which later transferred it to Marriot Africa International Limited.
Marriot subsequently subdivided the land into more than 1,000 plots and sold many of them to third parties before transferring its interests to Ukombozi Holdings Limited.
The disputed transactions prompted legal action by Kanyotu’s widows and heirs, who challenged the sales as fraudulent and contrary to succession law.
[DNK-International@January 15,2026]
