ADC Wins Land Case Over Squatters
The Environment and Land Court in Malindi has given squatters 60 days to leave the Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC) land following a court order by Justice Maureen Odeny.
Lydia Kadima 
“The defendants have no legal mandate to use the land in any manner. They are trespassers on the land hence should vacate or be evicted,” said Justice Odeny.
The settlers have been restrained from occupying the land and are to pay Sh. 33.4million as compensation for the losses caused by their invasion of the ADC land.
The ADC reported to the court that the settlers first intruded in 2000 by planting crops on the land during the rainy season, and in 2009 they proceeded to construct temporary structures on the land.
They then gave the settlers a three-month notice to evict the land, but the settlers ignored it, prompting the ADC to go to court.
ADC also told the court that it had suffered losses and damages from the settlers’ acts as the invasion reduced their grazing lands, forcing their animals to die of starvation. It provided death certificates for the animals to prove the claims.
The land where more than 500 people had settled in has been legally proven to be ADC’s; therefore, the settlers have to obey the court orders.
The settlers claimed that they were not aware of the land matter before the court restrained them from cultivating in the land. The settlers are now expected to leave the land within the next 60 days.
