Boost for Moi’s bid to hold on to school land

Mr Moi went to the Supreme Court claiming the dispute between him and a rancher, Mr Malcolm Bell, over the land on which Moi High School Kabarak is build involved several points of law, which could only be resolved by the highest court.

Retired president Daniel Moi’s bid to overturn a ruling requiring him to vacate a 100-acre farm in Nakuru received a boost after the Supreme Court dismissed an objection raised on jurisdiction to determine the case.


Justices Jackton Ojwang and Mohammed Ibrahim said the Supreme Court had the jurisdiction to hear any appeal from the lower courts and grant a conservatory order to preserve the property.


“The Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction derived from the Constitution. It is equally empowered not only to exercise its inherent jurisdiction, but also to make any essential orders that will enable it to sustain its constitutional mandate as the ultimate judicial forum,” the judges said.


Mr Moi went to the Supreme Court claiming the dispute between him and a rancher, Mr Malcolm Bell, over the land on which Moi High School Kabarak is build involved several points of law, which could only be resolved by the highest court.


He said the issues were of public importance and that a miscarriage of justice might occur if he was not allowed to seek the court’s intervention.


Mr Bell, however, objected arguing that the Supreme Court lacks jurisdiction to hear and determine an application for stay of execution of a decree arising from a judgment of the Court of Appeal and should be struck out.


The dispute began in 2003 when Mr Bell sued Mr Moi at the High Court for trespassing on the land after allegedly coercing Mr Bell’s father into donating it to the school in 1980.


Justice Muga Apondi in 2006 dismissed Mr Bell’s claims, saying, Kabarak High School had acquired the title deed by adverse possession and allowed it to continue occupying the land.


Mr Bell appealed against the decision and Lady Justices Martha Koome and Hannah Okwengu ordered Mr Moi to surrender the land within six months or face eviction.


Mr Moi then sought Supreme Court intervention.