Chokaa residents have entered the new year with their homes at risk. This is after they failed to meet tough cash demands that have been placed on them by the Kirima family.
Apparently, the Kirima family is demanding Sh. 25 million per acre of land at Nairob’s Njiru sub-County. The residents received the cash demand letters on December 22, 2023, from Kaplan and Stratton Advocates, the law firm that is representing the Kirima family.
One of the demand letters for a plot measuring 30*60 states as follows;
“The total sum of Sh. 2.167 million being the purchase price of the land and Sh. 100,000 being the administrative costs is payable immediately upon receipt of this letter but not later than 29 December 2023 to regularise your continued occupation of the land.”
“If you have NOT paid in full by 29 December 2023, the Estate reserves the right to revert to the deadline of 31 December 2023 set out in the eviction court orders.”
However, Chokaa residents say that the cash demands by the Kirima family are above current market rates. The residents say that a valuation by an independent valuer has placed the same acre of land at Sh. 6 million.
They say that this Sh. 6 million valuation is for the land situated next to the main road. The land in the middle section has been valued at Sh. 5 million per acre while the land in the lower section has been valued at Sh. 4 million per acre.
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Having failed to meet the cash demands, the residents have moved to the Land Court and pleaded for protection. The court is expected to make a ruling on their petition on January 23.
“We, the interested parties, have invested heavily in the buildings in respect of which an order has been made requiring us to vacate our properties by 31 December 2023, failing which we will be forcibly evicted and will suffer irreparable damage and loss if the said eviction is carried out,” the residents say in the petition to the court.
“We seek the intervention of this court to ensure that our properties are not demolished by the administrators of Kirima Estate (Anne Wangare Kirima and Theresia Wairimu Kirima) with the assistance of the National Police in the name of enforcing the orders of this court.”
The residents lost a long-running court battle in October 2023 when the court ruled that the contested land belonged to the estate of the late Gerishon Kirima.