Moi loses battle for Kabarak land

Retired President Daniel Moi Thursday lost his battle for 100 acres to rancher Malcolm Bell.

Five Supreme Court judges put an end to the 10-year court battle, ruling that they could not overturn an Appeal Court order kicking out the former president from the land in Nakuru.

The judges said the Supreme Court could not be used for mere appeals but only deals with matters that raise serious constitutional violations.

“It is our view that this matter was well settled and does not qualify to be entertained before us,” said Judges Kalpana Rawal, Philip Tunoi, Mohammed Ibrahim, Smokin Wanjala and Njoki Ndung’u.
Miscarriage of justice

The judges ruled that Mr Moi and the Board of Governors of Kabarak High School had not demonstrated that the dispute involved great public interest or if there would be serious miscarriage of justice by enforcing the Appeal Court order.

The judges ruled that the Appeal Court was wrong in escalating the issue to the Supreme Court since there were no substantive constitutional violations.

Kabarak High School, which is built on the disputed land, will be in a dilemma, should Mr Bell evict the school.

The dispute over the 100-acres started in 2003 when Mr Bell sued Mr Moi for trespass, alleging that he coerced his late father, Mr Ginger Bell, into donating the land to Kabarak High School in 1980.
In 2006, Mr Justice Muga Apondi ruled that the school had acquired title by adverse possession.

Mr Bell appealed in 2012, and judges Martha Koome and Hannah Okwengu ordered Mr Moi to surrender the land within six months or be evicted.

Mr Moi and the school’s Board of Governors went to the Supreme Court arguing that should Mr Bell take possession of the land, he would jeopardise Kabarak School’s well-being and the surrounding community.

They also claimed that the dispute was of great public importance and that there would be a miscarriage of justice since one of the three judges who heard the appeal was not party to the final judgment.

Mr Bell however stood his ground asserting that the school was not a public institution.

The five judges Thursday agreed with Mr Bell and dismissed Mr Moi’s claims.

“Questions of one absent judge do not bear any measure of miscarriage of justice since the two who wrote the judgment were in agreement,” they ruled.

In the end, the judges ruled in favour of Mr Bell, who is now free to evict Mr Moi.