The Environment and Land Court in Nairobi has given food processing firm Del Monte the green light to evict businessman Peter Munga from a 75-acre parcel of land. The eviction will now see Munga leave the land together with Pioneer International School which is situated on the land.
These orders were issued by Lady Justice Anne Abongo Omollo in the land case 1245 of 2015.
In the court case, Del Monte had asked the court to issue a permanent injunction against Goshen Gardens Limited from trespassing, continuing to trespass, transferring, leasing, subletting, interfering and, or otherwise dealing with the portion of the property known as L.R. No. 12XX7/2, including operating a school or any other business on it.
Del Monte informed the court that Goshen Gardens Limited had leased the 75 acres for a term of eight years starting from September 3, 2013. The firm had agreed to a revisable monthly rent of Sh550,000.
However, the firm started defaulting on payments in February 2015 and was served with a notice to vacate. The defaults piled up and Del Monte went ahead to terminate the lease and order Goshen to leave the land.
However, Goshen contested the eviction, and accused Del Monte of altering the terms of the lease. Goshen claimed that Del Monte had shrank the acreage of the lease from 100 acres to 75 acres. Goshen further accused Del Monte of trespassing the property, and alleged that unknown people had unlawfully entered the land and stolen property worth Sh1.6 million.
Del Monte said that in a meeting dated August 2015, Goshen and Del Monte had met with Munga. During the meeting, Goshen director David Kigwe had indicated that Goshen was considering transferring its assets to Munga and asked Del Monte to confirm the possibility of the school taking over the lease.
Del Monte responded, saying that it had discovered in mid-October 2015 that Goshen had handed over possession of the property to Munga’s Pioneer.
But on their part, Munga’s Pioneer International School denied being in a lease with Del Monte, but agreed that an expression of interest in the purchase of the school premises had been agreed on.
Based on this expression, Munga had allegedly asked Del Monte during a meeting that was dated November 19, 2015 to give an undertaking that the property would be leased to him after Goshen vacated the land.
He told the court that he informed Del Monte of his understanding that if he were to proceed to buy the school, pay the outstanding and accruing rent, then Del Monte would enter into a new lease with him.
As a result of this meeting, Munga said that he agreed to inject an additional Sh38 million into the purchase of the Pioneer school from Goshen, and continued to pay the monthly rent.
However, the court found out that even before the entry of Munga and Pioneer into the alleged new lease, Del Monte had already served Goshen with a notice to terminate the tenancy over defaults.
Because of the land hosting a school, the court ruled that Munga shall be given time until December to allow for the current academic year to run in full, after which the school is to vacate the land.
“I take regard to the best interest of the child. The best interest herein is to let the school calendar for this year run to an end before the students’ learning is disrupted. It is on this account that although I make an order for vacant possession, Pioneer International Schools Ltd shall surrender such vacant possession on the 10th of December 2025. Between now and the 10th December, 2025, the [school]t shall continue to pay the monthly rents due to [Del Monte],” Lady Justice Omollo ruled.
READ MORE: Peter Munga joins Sh468 billion Nairobi-Mombasa Expressway project
