County, investor battle over 4,700-acre Mara land rages

The fight over a 4,700-acre land in the Maasai Mara National Reserve between Narok County Government and a private investor is back in court.

The county government has filed an appeal at the Appellate Court in Nakuru seeking to stay implementation of the judgment delivered in favour of Livingston Kunini, the brother of Narok Governor Patrick ole Ntutu (pictured), who claims ownership of the land in Talek area.

On March 6, the Environment and Lands Court ruled in favor of Kunini after two-decade legal battle.

On Tuesday, the county, through lawyers Paul Muite and Allan Meing’ati, said it strongly disagrees with the findings of the High Court and therefore, resolved to file the appeal against the judgment.

“The County Government of Narok, through Governor Patrick Ole Ntutu, disagrees with the court’s decision, and that is why we are here; we have since appealed,” said Meing’ati, who is the lead counsel in the case.

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“Besides the appeal, we have also filed a stay of execution seeking to stay the implementation of the High Court judgment in the matter. This dispute over the land has been going on in court for the last 25 years,” said Muite.

Muite said it is a sheer coincidence that Ntutu is now the county boss and his brother Kunini is the one the court awarded the land and further ordered the county government to account and pay him (Kunini) money generated from tourism from the land dating back to 1997.

The lawyer said that as of 1997, the county government was not in existence.

“The stay application is based on the inability of the county government of Narok to trace records of the former Narok County Council since, in the first place, it did not keep accurate records of income and expenditure from the land, which is part of the Maasai Mara National Reserve,” he added.

Muite noted that the amount claimed is estimated to run to over Sh30 billion.

The dispute over the land started in 1984 when the defunct County Council of Narok granted Kunini and his company, Ol Kiombo Limited, a 33-year lease to run hospitality services for tourists visiting the Maasai Mara National Reserve.

Kunini operated the land under the lease until 1992 when the lease was cancelled, and the area was gazetted as a national reserve. He moved to court to repossess the land and, in 2005, signed a consent agreement with the County Council that allowed him to continue operations on the land. The county government later argued that it had not authorised the consent agreement.

In 2014, High Court Judge Lady Justice Pauline Nyamweya revoked the consent, ordering that the land be returned to the county.

Kunini then filed an appeal, and Judges Roselyn Nambuye, Daniel Musinga, and Jamila Mohammed ruled in his favour, reinstating the land to him.