Waitiki loses case against state agency
What you need to know:
- Mr Evanson Kamau Waitiki had his case struck out on the basis that his claim cannot be sustained against Kenya Power due to the settlement he made with the government.
- The power distribution company said the intervention by the government to offer compensation to Mr Waitiki was to give an all-inclusive compensation to him for losses suffered after squatters took over his land which they were beneficiaries of the electric infrastructure.
A property owner who sold his 930-acre piece of land to the government for settlement of squatters has lost a case against Kenya Power which he had sued for trespass.
Mr Evanson Kamau Waitiki had his case struck out on the basis that his claim cannot be sustained against Kenya Power due to the settlement he made with the government.
In January, President Uhuru Kenyatta issued title deeds to squatters residing on the once controversial land situated in Likoni Sub-County.
The judge said it is public knowledge and that she (court) takes judicial notice that Mr Waitiki admitted that the land was purchased by the government.
Lady Justice Omollo further noted that if the squatters are no longer called trespassers but now land owners, she does not see why Kenya Power’s infrastructure would still amount to trespass.
“In my opinion the transaction between the plaintiff (Mr Waitiki) and the government compromised the suit,” said Lady Justice Omollo of the Environment and Land Court.
Mr Waitiki had filed the case against the then Kenya Power and Lighting Company in May 2012 accusing it of trespassing on his land in Likoni.
According to Kenya Power, Mr Waitiki while aware of existing electric infrastructure on his land successfully negotiated a one off purchase of the land by the government.
It further argued that there was reason to believe that Mr Waitiki had been fully paid and adequately compensated by the government.
The power distribution company said the intervention by the government to offer compensation to Mr Waitiki was to give an all-inclusive compensation to him for losses suffered after squatters took over his land which they were beneficiaries of the electric infrastructure.
Kenya Power in its application filed in March this year further argued that any payment being pursued by the respondent is against public policy and ought to be disallowed.
Mr Waitiki opposed the application through an affidavit he filed narrating how he acquired the land and how the invasion by youths took place from December 1999.
Mr Waitiki said that he discovered in 2008 that Kenya Power had erected transformers and power lines on the land without his consent.
He said that until he sold the land to the government in January, Kenya Power still continued with the acts of trespass by adding more transformers, power lines and cables in breach of section 46 of the Energy Act.
The court further heard that Mr Waitiki admitted negotiating with the government to sell the land so as to resolve the squatter problem and an agreement was signed on January 6 this year.
He submitted that the suit could only be struck out if it was weak and could not be amended.
