Kakuzi loses 72-acre Makuyu golf course land as Supreme Court backs adverse possession
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Kenya's Supreme Court has dismissed Kakuzi PLC's appeal over about 72 acres in Murang'a County, ending a long dispute with Makuyu Club, which has used the land as a golf course since 1934.
Listed agricultural firm Kakuzi PLC has lost its fight to reclaim 72 acres of land used by Makuyu Club as a golf course after the Supreme Court dismissed its appeal challenging the club's ownership through adverse possession.
The apex court upheld the Court of Appeal's decision, finding that Makuyu Club had demonstrated continuous, uninterrupted and exclusive occupation of the disputed land for the period required by law, while Kakuzi failed to take unequivocal steps to assert its ownership within the prescribed limitation period.
The evidence showed the club had occupied the land from 1934 with Kakuzi's knowledge and continued using it after the agricultural company acquired the larger property in 1967. The club went to court in 2002, after roughly 35 years, seeking to be declared the lawful owner on the ground that it had occupied the disputed portion for more than 12 years.
The judges held that a subsequent owner must assert ownership through unequivocal acts capable of interrupting the adverse possessor's occupation. "We are satisfied that the appellant (Kakuzi) failed to do so within the prescribed limitation period," the court ruled, noting that Kakuzi only sought to assert its interest in May 2002 when it attempted to formalise the club's use of the property through a lease agreement.
Kakuzi had argued that the club entered the land as a donee and that its use was permissive rather than adverse to the owner, and that time could not run in favour of a party whose occupation originated from consent or donation, particularly where the land later changed hands. It cited support for the club over the years, including fuel, tractors, lawnmowers, wages for clubhouse watchmen and golf course employees, and equipment such as coats and torches.
The Court of Appeal had already held that supplying water and grass mowers, paying workers, making donations and providing other assistance did not constitute an assertion of ownership capable of interrupting the club's occupation. Makuyu Club, through David Mereka, maintained that the land was donated by white settlers in 1934 for use as a golf course, long before Kakuzi acquired the surrounding parcel.