Woman dies after winning 30-year land battle
National
By
Daniel Chege
| Feb 16, 2026
A woman who spent 30 years fighting in and out of court to protect her family’s 9.3-acre property in Ol Kalou, Nyandarua County, has finally won the long-running estate dispute.
However, Keziah Wanjiru will not be able to enjoy the property she inherited from her late mother Wangari Mwangi, as she passed away before the court could deliver its verdict.
Land Court Judge Mugo Kamau, resolved the dispute between Wanjiru, the Settlement Fund Trustees (SFT), and the late Joseph Ndirangu, who had claimed interest in the land.
“A declaration is hereby issued that the plaintiff (Wanjiru), now deceased, is the legal and lawful beneficiary of the disputed parcel,” ruled Judge Mugo.
The judge ruled that the allocation of the title deed to Ndirangu by SFT on January 4, 1998, was obtained through fraud. “The allocation did not follow the legal procedures and the title in Ndirangu’s name is hereby cancelled and transferred to Munyua Wainaina, who will hold it as legal representative of the property,” ruled Mugo.
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The dispute began after Ndirangu was allocated the land in 1996, following the cancellation of Wangari’s allocation. The title was officially registered in Ndirangu’s name two years later.
After exhausting all attempts to have the land registered in her name and facing eviction, Wanjiru took the matter to court in April 2013.
She defended her claim to the property, saying she inherited it from her mother, who died on June 26, 1968 and was buried on the land.
She maintained that her late mother was the legal owner, having been allocated the parcel, which was officially registered on July 11, 1973, five years after Wangari’s death.
After seven years of litigation, Ndirangu died on November 3, 2020, before he could testify and he was substituted by Grace Nyambura and Walter Wambugu in 2021.
Wanjiru died on June 25, 2021, after giving her testimony and defending her stake in the property; she was replaced by Wainaina in 2022.
“I have been tilling and farming the land while trying to obtain the relevant documents for ownership but I was unsuccessful,” she testified.
She said she learned that Ndirangu had obtained a title deed for the land after her brother, Stephen Kariuki, was arrested and charged with fraud related to the property.
The case was dropped when the SFT wrote a letter stating that Ndirangu would surrender the land, but he did not comply.
Wanjiru explained that a white settler, who owned the entire property, left a list of his workers, including her mother, asking the government to allocate them land.“My mother could not pay the required Sh500, and I was employed by the land board at Sh39 per month. Sh20 was deducted from my salary to pay for the land until 1987 when I had paid a total of Sh575,” she testified.
She said she did not understand how the land was transferred, as they were never served with any notice of repossession from the SFT
Nyambura and Wambugu testified that their late father, Ndirangu, was the rightful owner of the property and held a valid certificate of title, having been properly allocated the land.
SFT through Lawrence Karunge testified that Wangari and Wanjiru’s right to the land were terminated on April 24, 1996, after failing to meet prerequisite conditions, including payment and fencing. However, Judge Mugo ruled that the allocation of the land to Ndirangu was fraudulent and unlawful. He added that Wanjiru and her mother had been discriminated against and denied their rightful claim to the property without justification.
“The court must stand firm to ensure that the rights of less fortunate members of society are not trampled. They are equally protected,” he ruled.
He condemned Ndirangu for using the land office to disinherit Wangari’s children, who had been farming the land and had put a temporary shelter after their mother’s death.