Ruto agrees to return IDP’s land in April

Eldoret North MP William Ruto has agreed to give up a 100-acre piece of land he is accused of grabbing from an internally displaced person.

Mr Ruto has offered to leave the land belonging to Mr Adrian Gilbert Muteshi, who was displaced during the 2008 post-election violence, by April 10.

In a concession filed in court on Monday, the Eldoret North MP said that he required two months to remove his properties including fences and hedges from the land.

The concession is part of an out-of-court settlement being negotiated by Mr Ruto and his accuser.

They are yet to conclude the deal as Mr Muteshi has insisted that Mr Ruto must compensate him and bear the cost of the suit.

He also wants the titles that are in Mr Ruto’s possession cancelled.

Mr Muteshi filed the suit in 2010, two years after he fled for safety as violence hit the Rift Valley and other parts of Kenya after the 2007 elections.

He said that he has been the owner of the land and farmed on it since 1989 having acquired it from a white settler.

After the violence, he returned to the farm, but found that Mr Ruto had not only taken over but his workers had been kicked out too, he told the court.

Mr Ruto denied that he grabbed the land.

He said that it was sold to him by Ms Dorothy Jemutai Yator, but authorities later discovered that the title was not properly processed.

Mr Ruto’s lawyers informed Lady Justice Rose Ougo last month that the MP wanted a negotiated settlement of the dispute.

The judge had given them up to Monday, March 5 to negotiate. And on Monday, the lawyers filed the notice of concession, in which Mr Ruto also concedes being in possession and proprietorship of the property.

The MP, who is also a presidential candidate also concedes title to ownership of the land.

Right to compensation
However, he stated that his concessions were not admissions of any wrong doing or culpability on his part.

He also disclaimed any liability, damages or losses that may have been suffered by anyone as a result of transaction of the land.

Mr Ruto also stated that he reserved the right to claim compensation from individuals who misled him into acquiring the disputed land.

The judge gave him and his accuser two more weeks to try to settle the outstanding issues. If they fail, the case will go to trial, the judge said.