The Land Acquisition Tribunal has ordered the National Land Commission (NLC) to pay Sh712 million to Carlisle Development Company for the compulsory acquisition of its Nairobi property.
The tribunal, led by the chairperson, Nabil Orina, said that the commission violated Carlisle’s constitutional rights by failing to notify it of the acquisition and failing to provide just compensation.
“An order be and is hereby issued directing the Respondent to pay the complainant, within 45 days hereof, the sum of Sh712,380,000.00 being compensation for the compulsory acquisition of property known as L.R. No. 209/13761 measuring 7.596hectares,” the tribunal said in its February 07, 2025 decision.
The dispute revolves around a 7.596-hectare industrial plot in Nairobi, which Carlisle Development Company had acquired through an allotment letter dated August 27, 1998, for a 99-year lease.
However, between 2014 and 2016, NLC announced its intention to acquire the property for the construction of the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway and a commuter rail system.
The complainant told the court that it was never notified of the acquisition process or compensated. According to Carlisle, its directors only discovered that Kenya Railways Corporation had taken over the land when they visited the site to construct a perimeter wall.
The company later valued the land at Sh2.25 billion, including a 15 percent disturbance compensation.
When defending itself,NLC acknowledged the acquisition. Still, it argued that Carlisle failed to attend the inquiry process, where affected parties were required to submit their bank details for compensation.
It said that the funds that had been initially set aside for compensation were reallocated to other projects. The commission further stated that an official valuation in 2015 had placed the land’s worth at Sh712,380,000, which should be the rightful compensation, rather than the current market value sought by the complainant.
In giving its decision, the tribunal ruled that NLC had failed to follow due process.
“From the analysis of evidence, it is clear to us that the complainant was not served with the notices issued in the compulsory acquisition process for the suit property…For the failure to notify the complainant of the acquisition of its property and the failure to compensate the complainant, the Respondent violated the complainant’s rights under Article 40(3) and Article 47(1) of the Constitution of Kenya as read together with Part VIII of the land Act. This violation is a continuing violation as the complainant has not been compensated,” the tribunal said.
The tribunal also directed the land commission to pay the development company general damages of Sh18.7 million.
