Park View Shopping Arcade v Kangethe & 2 others

The court is required by the plaintiff to issue an injunction to restrain the defendants from trespassing upon the suit land and to order their eviction from the land.

The plaintiff, who is the owner of the land, claims that his right to the enjoyment, occupation and use of the land is violated by the trespassers.

The defendants answer that they had a permit from the city council of Nairobi to conduct their business, which was bound to enhance the environmental quality of the area and that therefore they were not trespasser. They also point it out that the plaintiff wanted them evicted to be able to build on this land and that his construction project was a threat to a clean and healthy environment.

The court considered that if the Environmental Management and Co-Ordination Act states that every person in Kenya is entitled to a clean and healthy environment and has the duty to safeguard it the action of the defendant were not acceptable. Indeed, the Constitution sanctify the right to private property and the respondent where therefore not entitled to occupy the plaintiff’s property.

Thus the court followed the plaintiff’s request and issued an eviction order.