Court orders CDF Board to pay Sh100,000 for trespass

Nov 16, 2023 - 19:10

Brek Hemed (L) consults with Muslim for Human Rights (MUHURI) Rapid Response Officer Francis Auma (C) outside the Mombasa Law Courts.

Mombasa,

Thursday, November 16, 2023

KNA by Sadik Hassan

It is a sigh of relief for a septuagenarian Brek Hemed, after straddling the corridors of justice for the past ten years over his parcel of land in Mwembe Tanganyika where a cabro road was constructed in 2013 by the Constituency Development Fund Board (CDF) board.

Hemed accused the CDF and the Kenya Rural Road Board (KERRA) of constructing a road on his land. Hemed narrates that he received a distress call from his wife while working in Saudi Arabia that KERRA and CDF were planning to construct a cabro road on his plot without consultation.

He took an emergency leave in 2013 and travelled back home to find ongoing construction on the land – plot number Mombasa/BlockXV1/564. He acquired a title deed in 2002.

In a bid to stop the construction of the Cabro road, he showed the constructor the land documents but his call to halt the construction fell on deaf ears.

The wheels of justice seemed slow but Mombasa Environment and Land Court Judge Stephen Kibunja ordered the CDF board to pay Sh100,000 to Hemed as general damages for trespass.

Hemed according to the ruling did not provide evidence to assist the court in assessing the appropriate level of damage to award.

“However, as there is evidence of trespass which is actionable, the court is of the view that an award of Kshs. 100,000/= would be fair and just in the circumstances of this case,” ruled Judge Kibunja. KERRA was absolved from any wrongdoing because it was appointed by the CDF Board as a project manager.

Courtesy; KNA