A businessman has complained that armed police officers remain stationed on a disputed parcel of land in Nairobi’s Muthaiga area after a court issued clear orders directing them to vacate.
The land, valued at about Ksh1 billion, belongs to Mount Pleasant Limited, which was declared the lawful owner by the Environment and Land Court sitting at Milimani.
The dispute pitted Mount Pleasant Limited against Equity Bank chief executive James Njuguna Mwangi and Jane Wangui Mundia, who had laid claim to the same property and previously had armed officers guarding it.
In a judgment delivered by Justice Oscar Angote, the court ruled that Mount Pleasant Limited lawfully acquired the land in 2006 after purchasing it from former Cabinet minister Arthur Kinyanjui Magugu and his wife Margaret Wairimu Magugu.
The property was originally registered as Land Reference Numbers 214/20/2 and 214/20/1/1 before being merged into L.R No. 214/832. “The court finds that between the Plaintiff and the 1st and 2nd Defendants, the Plaintiff has established that it is the legitimate proprietor of the suit properties,” Justice Angote stated.
Court records show that Mount Pleasant sought declarations affirming its ownership, cancellation of the rival title, eviction orders, police assistance, and damages for trespass after reporting repeated entry onto the land in 2013 and again in 2020.
Mwangi and Mundia had told the court that they bought the land in 2012 from the estate linked to former President Daniel arap Moi for Ksh333 million and later applied for amalgamation of the two titles.
Mount Pleasant maintained that it had taken possession years earlier and accused the two of evicting its guards and occupying the property unlawfully.
In a detailed decree issued on November 12, 2025, the court declared Mount Pleasant Limited the sole legal and registered proprietor of L.R Nos. 214/20/2 and 214/20/1/1, now known as L.R No. 214/832. Justice Angote nullified the title issued to Mwangi and Mundia, describing it as void from the start, and directed the Chief Land Registrar to cancel all entries tied to their ownership and reverse the amalgamation.
The court also issued permanent injunctions barring the two, their agents, or employees from entering, occupying, leasing, transferring, charging, developing, or interfering in any manner with the land.
A mandatory injunction ordered Mwangi and Mundia to vacate and hand over vacant possession within 30 days, failure to which eviction would follow. The Officer Commanding Station at Gigiri or Muthaiga Police Station was directed to assist in enforcing the orders and secure Mount Pleasant’s peaceful occupation of the property.
The court awarded Mount Pleasant Ksh 10 million in general damages for trespass, payable jointly by the two defendants, together with interest at court rates until full payment.
A separate claim for mesne profits of Ksh 500,000 per month was rejected. The defendants’ counterclaim, which sought a declaration that they were the rightful owners of L.R No. 214/832 and cancellation of Mount Pleasant’s title, was dismissed in full, with costs awarded to the company.
Although the court granted a 45-day stay of execution, Mount Pleasant now says armed police officers are still guarding the land long after the judgment, a situation it says goes against the court’s clear directions.
An appeal lodged by the defendants did not succeed, leaving the judgment intact.
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