Kenya’s oldest political party, Kanu, has suffered a major setback after its attempt to reclaim ownership of the iconic Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) was thrown out by the Environment and Land Court sitting in Nairobi.
KICC’s ownership changed hands — from Kanu to the Government — in 2003 soon after the then President, Mwai Kibaki, took over power and issued an Executive Order quashing the former ruling party’s ownership of the property in the heart of the capital city, Nairobi, and which is also the centrepiece of Kenya’s conference tourism. The Executive Order was executed by the then minister for Information and Tourism, Mr Raphael Tuju.
In its court pleadings, Kanu had sought a declaration that it was the rightful and beneficial owner of the land on which the iconic tower is built, arguing that it had been allocated the land for 99 years and was registered on the title deed.
On Monday, June 3, 2024, however, Judge Jacqueline Mogeni ruled that the Treasury, through its Permanent Secretary, was the rightful trustee of the land in dispute and that it was holding the title deed for the Ministry of Tourism. The title deed in question, number 209/19829, was registered on June 1, 2010, three years before President Kibaki’s second term expired.
Mr Kibaki had in 2002 defeated the then Kanu candidate, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, in that year’s presidential election, held in December, and the following month, ordered Kanu to vacate KICC and for the conference centre to revert to government ownership.
Kanu had been issued with an allotment letter in 1969, when KICC was being built, and was in May 25, 1989 issued with a title deed for a portion of the land on which the national monument stands. However, Lady Justice Mogeni has ruled that that the land was not available for excision at the time and that the title deed had, as a result, been issued irregularly and could not stand. She also ruled that a subsequent title deed revoking Kanu’s ownership was valid and upheld it.
“Who allocated the land to the petitioner?” the judge asked as she threw out Kanu’s case. “Was it the President or the Commissioner of Lands?”
For many years during Kanu’s tenure, which ended in December 2002, the conference centre served as the party’s headquarters, the newsroom for its newspapers, The Kenya Times and Kenya Leo, as well as a cash cow for the ruling party.
Interestingly, President Kibaki had served at one time as Kanu’s Executive Officer, a position that later went to Mr Peter Steven Gichambi, who was still holding the position when President Kibaki ordered Kanu’s eviction. Mr Gichambi is on record as saying that on the day, Kanu was evicted from the 29-storey building, he had to sleep out in the cold, because he two was thrown out with the party he had served for decades.
Now, the building is going, going… gone because on Monday, June 3, the honourable judge concluded that the petitioner was not entitled to the orders sought in the petition, and this being a public interest case, all litigants were directed to bear their own costs.
Kanu, now chaired by former Baringo Senator Gideon Moi, has already indicated that it will be appealing against Lady Justice Mogeni’s verdict.
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