The Court of Appeal has reversed a decision by the Environment and Land Court (ELC) that awarded the African Inland Church (AIC) ownership of a portion of land within the Wilson Airport catchment.
The three-judge bench, comprising Justices Hannah Okwengu, Kibaya Imaana Laibuta, and John Mativo, found that AIC was improperly issued with a title deed for the land parcel that falls within Wilson Airport’s boundary and had been reserved for public use since 1962.
“It is possible for the land Registrar to have unwittingly issued the title without the proper procedure of allotment having been followed. We find that the learned judge failed to properly evaluate and analyse the evidence before her,” the judges said.
“Consequently, the learned judge came to the wrong conclusion that LR. No. 209/11924 was available for allocation, that AIC was properly allocated that property, and that its title was indefeasible,” said the court in its October 11, 2024 decision.
The case revolves around a 0.3399-hectare parcel of land claimed by AIC that is within a 163.67-hectare plot registered in favour of the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA). AIC argued that it had lawfully acquired the smaller parcel in 1990 and presented a valid title as proof. The church claimed the land was free for allocation when it obtained it from the Ministry of Lands.
KAA, however, contested the title, arguing that the land in question formed part of the larger parcel reserved for Wilson Airport under the Aerodrome (Control of Obstruction) Ordinance and subsequent vesting orders. KAA maintained that the land had been placed under its jurisdiction for airport use and thus could not have been legally allocated to a private entity like AIC.
The Court of Appeal has, however, disagreed with this conclusion. It criticised the ELC’s decision, noting that the trial judge failed to properly consider evidence from KAA showing that the 0.3-hectare land was part of Wilson Airport’s land. The appellate court emphasised that even though AIC held a title, the title was not indefeasible if the underlying allocation process was flawed.
The Court of Appeal determined that AIC’s land acquisition was unprocedural. It noted that no letter of allotment or survey plan confirming the land’s availability for allocation was provided. Furthermore, the judges observed that the Commissioner of Lands did not follow the legally required steps to degazette the land before issuing the title to AIC.
The court cited the importance of following land allocation procedures, stating that the burden lay on the church to prove that the process of allocation of the land that was allotted to it was done flawlessly and that it had acquired a legal title. The court established that the title issued to the AIC church was not procedurally issued as the procedure for allocating the land was not followed.
Discussion about this post