Antony Mwangi (left) and his wife Violet Matiru hold a manila paper with printed documents of a piece of their land and a portrait of their late mother in Kasarani area near Santon, Nairobi on April 24, 2025.
When Amon Matiru and his wife, Peris Wambui Matiru, bought 344 acres at Kasarani in 1954, they believed they had secured a legacy for their six children.
That vision began to crumble in 1980 when the government compulsorily acquired 294 acres of the land for the expansion of the Moi International Sport Centre, Kasarani, leaving the family with 50 acres.
Ms Peris Matiru died in March 2001 and her husband, Mzee Matiru, in August 2017, but their children retained the land which is now at the centre of a bitter dispute.
In early February 2025, Violet Matiru, one of the couple’s daughters and the land's administrator, received alarming calls: construction had begun on their land.
Violet Matiru holds a manila papers with documents of a piece of their land and a portrait of her late mother at Kasarani, Nairobi, on April 24, 2025.
She and her husband, Antony Mwangi, were shocked to find the 50-acre plot fenced off and contractors working under police protection. The workers claimed they were building housing units under the government’s Slum Upgrading Programme which is under the State Department for Housing and Urban Development.
Ms Matiru questioned the legality of the occupation.
Who authorised the construction? Who is the contractor? And who had deployed police officers from the Rapid Deployment Unit (RDU)?
When the Nation reporters visited the site, they witnessed a confrontation as RDU officers barred the couple from accessing the land and denied them the ability to take photos or videos.
Work on a piece of land in Kasarani, Nairobi, on April 24, 2025. Violet Matiru and her family say they are the rightful owners and suspect the land is being grabbed.
The officers declined to identify themselves and instructed the couple to present their claims at the Ministry of Lands, Public Works, Housing and Urban Development. This prompted Ms Matiru to pose questions, which all went unanswered.
“Why would I require the clearance of the Ministry to access my own land? Since when did that ever become a requirement for Kenyans to walk on their property?”
This 50-acre plot, officially known as L.R 8481/1, has long been a legal battlefield.
Documents reviewed by the Nation confirmed the land was owned by Peris Matiru until her death.
A 1980 gazette notice by the then Commissioner of Lands, J.R Njenga, showed that the government acquired three plots in Kasarani, including 294 acres of the Matiru land. The notice called for compensation claims, leaving the family with the remaining 50 acres.
In 1995, squatters and a church encroached on the land, prompting Peris Matiru to seek court intervention. On September 24, 1998, the court ordered the family to liaise with the Director of Survey and Commissioner of Lands to obtain an independent title.
50-acre plot
Licensed surveyor John Gatome was then engaged, completing a deed plan on March 20, 1999 for the 50-acre plot.
The family returned to court in 2000 after discovering that two private firms had been allocated parts of the previously acquired 294 acres. Justice B.P Kubo declined to nullify the allocations to the private entities but reaffirmed the family's ownership of the remaining 50 acres.
This judgment paved the way for the family to apply for a title deed, which was granted on September 12, 2012. The process included verification of the 1999 deed plan by the Director of Survey a day earlier.
In 2013, the court formally appointed Violet Matiru and Margaret Wanjiku Matiru as administrators of the land.
Years later, in November 2019, the family secured court approval to have surveyor Gatome re-establish the land’s beacons. However, on April 25, 2024, when he attempted to do so, he was violently repelled by squatters.
The family returned to court in July 2024, seeking police protection during the survey process and access to beacons within the Moi International Sports Centre perimeter.
Work in progress on a piece of land in Kasarani, Nairobi, on April 24, 2025. Violet Matiru and family allege to be the rightful owners.
Lady Justice Patricia Nyaundi ordered Kasarani Police Station’s Officer Commanding Station (OCS) to ensure the exercise went forward safely. Following the ruling, Gatome successfully reinstated the beacons and issued a Beacon Certificate on February 13, 2025.
Armed with both the title deed and the Beacon certificate, the family sent official letters on April 7, 2025, to the Managing Director of Moi International Sports Centre and the OCS of Sunton Police Station, announcing their intention to take possession of the land and hire private security.
Police protection
However, just a week later, they were barred from entering the property as tens of workers, under heavy police protection, were already constructing structures on the land.
In response, the family wrote to the Deputy County Commissioner of Kasarani Sub-County on April 15, reporting that unknown individuals claiming to be developing affordable housing had “invaded” their property.
“We, the family of the late Peris Wambui Matiru, [inform you] that invaders have taken possession by way of station security to guard our property. We have noticed that they are armed RDU officers on our family’s land and we do not know by whose authority they are stationed there,” Ms Matiru said.
Work on a piece of land in Kasarani, Nairobi, on April 24, 2025. Violet Matiru and her family say they are the rightful owners and suspect the land is being grabbed.
She also told the DCC that they would like this issue to be “resolved immediately to restore peace and order in this area.”
Two days later, on April 17, 2025, the family sent another letter to Principal Secretary Nixon Korir of the State Department for Housing and Urban Development, warning against further incursions.
“Any entry by you, and/or your agents in the parcel land L.R 8481/1 (I.R 138588) shall be deemed to be a trespass and will result in criminal proceedings being instituted against you pursuant to the Trespass Act (Cap 294),” it read. The letter was also copied to the Director of the Slum Upgrading Department.
The Nation reached out to PS Korir to confirm whether his department was involved in the development or had deployed RDU officers, but he had not responded by press time.
“We will not be cowed by anyone. This is my mother’s land. We, the children of Peris Matiru, will not give up! We will do everything in our powers to ensure that our land is not grabbed.”
