Kenyan court cancels Nakuru land title transferred after owner's death
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The Environment and Land Court in Nakuru has cancelled a land title after finding the register was opened two days after the owner died and another person was registered as proprietor 11 years later, ordering the parcel returned to the deceased's estate.
A court has cancelled a Nakuru land title after finding that the register was opened two days after the original owner died and another person was recorded as proprietor 11 years later.
The Environment and Land Court in Nakuru ordered the disputed parcel returned to the estate of William Kiiru after his family sued, arguing that the transfer was unlawful because it happened after his death.
According to the court judgment, Kiiru died on August 16, 1971, but the land register, known as the White Card, was opened two days later, before Fredrick Mbui was registered as proprietor on April 15, 1982, and the property later came to be registered in John Njogu's name.
The court said there was no evidence on the White Card showing how the transfer was done, and no evidence of any succession proceedings or any other person with authority to transfer the suit property on behalf of the deceased. The plaintiff pleaded particulars of fraud and illegalities and gave evidence to prove them, the court found.
The court declared the registration and transfer to Fredrick Mbui and John Njogu unlawful, fraudulent, null and void, and ordered the Land Registrar to cancel the entries and restore the property to Kiiru. It held that property registration after an owner's death, without succession authority, was unprocedural and could not stand.
The case was filed by Julius Wambugu, acting as legal representative of the estate, after he discovered in 2014 that the property was registered in Mr Njogu's name. He reported the matter at Bondeni Police Station, lodged a restriction at the Lands Registry on July 24, 2014 and wrote to the then Nakuru Municipal Council asking it not to transfer the plot or issue construction consent because it was a site-and-service plot, before the estate filed suit in October 2023.