Opanda v Ondachi (Environment & Land Case 5 of 2021) [2024] KEELC 6622 (KLR) (9 October 2024) (Judgment)

Summary at a glance

Facts

Josephat Akhanya Opanda claimed adverse possession over land parcel E/Bunyore/Ebusamia/269, measuring 0.32 hectares, since 1984. The land was previously owned by Josephat Ondachi Bunyali, who died and was substituted by his son Josephat Ondachi. The case was pending for over a decade.

Issues

• whether the applicant has been in peaceful, continuous occupation and use of the land for more than 12 years with the respondent's knowledge
• whether the applicant has acquired the whole of the land by adverse possession

Reasoning

The court considered the evidence and found that the applicant's presence on the land was peaceful and continuous, and the respondent had knowledge of it. The court also noted that the applicant had established his home on the land and used it for cultivation.

Outcome

The court dismissed the respondent's preliminary objection and ordered the respondent's name to be cancelled from the register and the land to be registered in the applicant's name.

Orders

• The respondent's name to be cancelled from the register and the land to be registered in the applicant's name

Authorities cited