NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 4 – The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) has been ordered to refund Keiyo Teachers Co-operative Society Sh40 million after the Court of Appeal upheld a ruling that the fund illegally sold public land to the Sacco.
In a decision delivered on February 27, the appellate court affirmed an earlier High Court judgment requiring NSSF to reimburse the cooperative for four parcels of land it purchased in 2004.
The Sacco had acquired the land for Sh40 million and later attempted to develop it. However, officials from the prisons department informed the cooperative that the parcels formed part of Eldoret GK Prisons land, making them public property.
NSSF had argued that it issued a valid title deed to the Sacco following the transaction and therefore the sale was lawful. The court rejected this argument, noting that the land had never been degazetted as public land and therefore could not be legally transferred.
The judges ruled that the appeal lacked merit and upheld the order compelling NSSF to refund the full purchase price.
“Regarding costs, it is trite law that costs follow the event. The event here is that the appellant’s appeal has failed. We see no reason to deprive the 1st respondent of costs,” the court stated, ordering NSSF to also pay the costs of the appeal and the trial at the High Court.
The ruling brings to a close a long-running dispute over the ownership of the contested parcels and reinforces legal safeguards governing the disposal of public land.
